Is True Love Always True?
by Con V
Summary: Eli and Clare were always destined for love. But how long can they keep their "perfect couple" image? When a new girl comes to Degrassi and tests Eli's faith, which will he choose? Love or lust?
1. The Beginning

Eli and Clare have always had strong feelings for one another, and when they finally share a kiss it's nothing but love, lust, and spilled secrets. They have good times and bad times, but at the end of the day they love each more and more. But for how long? Once a new girl enters the dramatic school of Degrassi, she tests El'is devotion to Clare. Will he stay faithful to his girlfriend, or does he give in to temptation? My story starts out in the midst of Clare and Eli's friendship just as they're about to take the first step in becoming a couple. **(Note: When the font goes to a new paragraph in italics, that means that there is a flashback or a memory is being revisited.) **

Clare Edwards opened her front door to find none other than Elijah Goldsworthy standing on the sidewalk outside her house.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him confused.

"Hi Eli, how are you? Fine Clare, thanks for asking." Eli said showing her how a proper greeting is done.

"Hi." she emphasized. Eli smiled.

"If you don't want to tell your mom how you're feeling, I respect that." he told her.

"Too late." Clare said walking towards him.

"You read her the letter?" Eli asked.

"And she wants to know what's wrong as much as I do. She and my dad are talking right now." she pointed to the door.

"So what you're saying is, my plan worked?" Eli said admiring himself.

"Could you be more smug?"

"Absolutely!" he laughed. "Here, you might wanna borrow these." Eli reached around his neck and took off his headphones. "They're a noise cancellation. Might come in handy if things get worse with your folks. Or if you need to ignore your English partner."

"Thanks." Clare said taking them.

"And I'm sorry for interfering. Promise not to do it again." he turned away, opening his car door.

"You can interfere every once in a while, but I'm still going to do whatever I want." Clare said, placing her hand on Eli's as he began to get into his car.

Looking at their hands he says, "Wouldn't expect anything less." Smiling, Clare turned away and started to walk back to her door. "Hey," Eli said, grabbing her arm. '_It's now or never Eli.'_ he thought. Mustering up the courage, he pulled Claire towards him and put his hands on her hips. Smirking, he leaned down and gently pressed his lips against her's. Pulling away, he looked at Clare, still smirking. Clare looked at Eli in slight shock.

"Yeah, I'm an awesome kisser." he said taking advantage of her moment of surprise. "Most people have that stunned effect when I kiss them. It's a gift really."

Clare stuttered, trying to find words that expressed what she was thinking. "What was that for?" she finally managed.

"Making you scream I guess." Eli chuckled as he revisited the memory.

"_Wow this is a first. Skipping school to do work." Eli said looking over Clare's paper for their English class._

_"Okay, I don't understand how you got an A and I got a C." Clare said frustrated. _

_"Simple, I'm dating Miss Dawes." Eli joked. "You're a good writer, but anyone could have penned this piece. There's no point of view."_

_"I wrote about gun control, I say it's good." she said defensively._

_"Wow, controversial." he said sarcastically, smirking._

_"Fine," Clare said setting the papers down and crossing her arms, "what am I supposed to write about?"_

_Eli thought for a moment before saying, "Something that pisses you off."_

_"Besides my English partner?" _

_"Ouch!" Eli said pretending to be hurt. getting serious again he said, "If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?"_

_A depressed look crossed Clare's face. "My mom and dad. They're not exactly getting along."_

_"So write about that." he suggested._

_"I can't, it's personal!"_

_"You care too much about what people think." Eli said to Clare. Being personal is what a writer is all about. Writing about the way she felt about her parents would make for an excellent piece. _

_"That is not true." Clare said defensively. Elijah Goldsworthy was the second person to tell her that she cared too much about what people thought of her. _

_"Then prove it." Eli challenged. "Scream at the top of your lungs." he gestured to the sky as he said 'top'. _

_Clare sat a little straighter. "Ahh…"she yelled softly. The scream died away quickly._

_Eli scoffed at her. "That's the best you can do?" _

_Clare looked at Eli pointedly. _'I'll prove to you I don't care what people think.' _Clare thought. She then stood up and smoothed her skirt before letting out a good long scream. Eli made a series of strange faces as she yelled and looked around at the other people staring. When she finished, Clare turned to him and said, "Okay, your turn."_

'Yeah right.' _he thought. "Yeah, not my style." Eli said getting off the bench._

_"No, you have to do it." Clare said smiling, backing him into a telephone pole, her finger pointing at him. They struggled for a bit, getting closer. Eli took hold of Clare's wrists in an attempt to stop her from poking out his eyes with her long fingers. Both stopped moving and looked at each other in a moment of silence. Eli then released her wrists and put both his hands up in a gesture of innocence. Clare stood awkwardly while Eli leaned against the pole before she sat back down on the bench._

"And this is for helping me out today." Clare said, putting her arms around his neck. This time it was she who kissed him, but slightly rougher this time.

_"Missed you last night. Was Twilight on TV?" Eli joked the morning after he and Clare skipped class._

_"She thinks she's protecting me by lying, but she's just making it worse!" Clare exclaimed ignoring Eli's comment about her declining his offer to hang out the night before. _

_"Woah," Eli said taken off guard and grabbing her arm, "stop, rewind, and play."_

_Clare sighed. "According to my mom, everything's fine between her and my dad, but anyone can see that it's not." she said slower._

_"Do you think they're getting divorced?" Eli asked her._

_A frenzied look came about her. "Divorced? My parents would never get divorced. My mom's just sad because my dad's always in a bad mood." It sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than Eli._

_"Well have you told them how you feel?" _

_"I've been trying, but they don't wanna talk."_

_"You can write how you feel in that letter for English class." Eli suggested. "Kill two birds with one stone." _

She had taken Eli's advice and wrote about her feelings. Showing her mom the paper, Claire discovered her mother wanted answers just as much as her daughter.

"Wow." Eli said when she pulled away from him.

"I know," Clare smiled mimicking him. "I'm an awesome kisser."

"It's about time, huh?" Eli said with a knowing look. "I think Adam was about to go insane if we didn't finally do something like this."

"I think I'd have gone insane if we hadn't." Clare smiled. She looked over her shoulder at the door. "Well I'd better go back in. My parents might wonder where I am. "

"See you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah."


	2. Love At First Kiss

"Hey you." Eli said coming up behind Clare and kissing her on the cheek the next day at school.

"Hey!" she said continuing to walk down the hall. "How are you this fine morning?"

"Tired, a little hungry. And you, m'lady?" Eli answered, lacing his fingers through her's as they walked down the hallway.

"Wide awake and full." Clare replied with a smile.

"Now how is that?" Eli said cocking his brow.

"I sleep at night and eat breakfast." Clare laughed.

"I should try that sometime." Eli said. "So, what do you say to skipping sixth period today? We could go for a walk in the park, have some coffee at The Dot, spend some time alone in my car…" he gently kissed Clare's neck.

"I don't know. We just skipped English the other day." she said to him.

"Yeah, but that doesn't count. We skipped to do work. This will be for fun. Besides, it'll be near the end of the day. No one will even notice." Clare gave him a stern look. "Come on, please?" Eli said with a lopsided smile.

Clare sighed. There was no way she could deny that face. "Fine, I agree to your evil plan. But you have to buy the coffee." she said poking him in the chest.

"With pleasure." Eli said kissing her hand. "I'll see you in English then."

"Kay, bye."

"That was rather cozy." Clare's best friend Alli said, walking up to her shortly after Eli left. "So you and Eli are finally together I presume?"

"Yeah." Clare said grinning.

"Don't just stand there with that goofy smile, tell me what happened silly!"

"He stopped by my house yesterday and we kissed. Twice." she said holding up two fingers.

"Twice? Wow Clare, I'm shocked." Alli said.

"It was amazing! I felt so much intensity!" Clare said moving her hands around to further emphasize her words.

"How was he?"

"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! He even tasted like spearmint gum." Clare said raising her eyebrows.

"Ooo, sounds fabulous."

"It was. And we're skipping sixth period today to hang out."

"Again, I'm shocked. Last year you never would have even thought about kissing a boy. Now you have a boyfriend and you're skipping class."

"Yeah, for once in my life I'm having fun." The late bell then rang out signaling students to go to class.

"Well I gotta go." Alli said starting to head off in the opposite direction. "Have fun with Eli." She gave Clare a sly look.

"Bye Ali." she waved.

In English that day, Clare all but jumped on Adam, her and Eli's friend.

"Hello there Miss Sunshine, you sure are happy today." he said as Clare took her usual seat beside him. Eli had not yet entered the classroom so Adam still had no idea that he and Claire were together.

"Well it's a beautiful day, I had a great breakfast, I finished all my homework, Eli and I kissed yesterday." Clare said cheerfully.

"Woah woah woah, hold the phone. What was that last part?" Adam asked stunned.

"That's right. Elijah Goldsworthy and Claire Edwards are in fact and finally a couple." she was smiling uncontrollably and couldn't seem to sit still.

"No way!" he replied his mouth hanging open.

"If it isn't my two favorite people," came Eli's voice from the back of the room as the bell rang, "my best friend and my girlfriend." he bent down and kissed Clare on the cheek before sitting in his seat in front of her.

"No way." Adam said again.

"Yes way my friend." Eli grinned.

"Well it's about freaking time!" he chuckled. "I was about to die from anticipation! I was beginning to think it would never happen."

"Something you'd like to share with the class Mr. Torres?" said Miss Dawes giving Adam an annoyed look.

"No mam." he answered looking at Eli and giving him a thumbs up from under his desk.

"Good, then shall we begin?"


	3. First Test at True Love

Eli stood outside The Dot soon after fifth period let out. Waiting for Clare, he leaned against a pole and thought about the day before. The kiss was amazing. It was everything he'd hoped it would be and more. But still, something in the back of his mind was yelling at him to tell Clare the truth about his life.

"Hello." he heard Clare say, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hey." Eli said kissing her cheek. "So, to the park?"

"To the park!" Clare took his hand and they set off.

"So, Clare, tell me." Eli started.

"Yes?"

"Tell me anything. How are your parents doing?" he asked curiously.

Clare made a face. "They could be better."

"Uh oh, that's never good. Have you had to use my headphones at all?"

"Unfortunately, I have. They just can't seem to get along."

"I'm sorry, Clare. I wish there was something I could do." Eli said to her.

"How about let me live with you?" Clare joked.

"Yeah, I think you'd be better off at your house." he laughed.

"Why, is something wrong?" she said serious this time.

"Oh, uh, no. Everything's fine. Everything's just fine." A strange look crossed his face.

"Are you sure?"

"So have you finished the English assignment?" Eli said, abruptly changing the subject. "I need to read over it before you hand it in."

Sensing his discomfort, Clare went along with the sudden change of conversation. "Um, well not yet. I'm almost finished. I just need to think of a good ending."

"What did you write about?"

"I wrote about my sister."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah. You have sisters, right?"

"I have two sisters. Lyssa and Angie. Lyssa is almost eighteen and Angie's thirteen months. What's your sister like?"

"Her name is Darcy. She' seventeen."

"Why haven't I met her? Or even heard about her?"

"She's in Africa building a school."

Eli choked back a chuckle. "I'm sorry, she's what?"

"What's so funny?" Clare said with a smile.

"A school? For African kids? That's so…"

"Saint like?" Clare finished looking at him.

"A little bit." Eli laughed.

"That's my family. We're all saints."

"Oh come on. You skipped school to hang out with your new boyfriend? That doesn't sound so saint like to me." Eli said cocking his head.

"For the first half of freshman year I wore my prep school uniform, my hair was in a ponytail everyday, and I didn't know the first thing about being a teenage girl."

"Really?" Eli said, raising one eyebrow.

"Really. I looked like I was ten until I turned fourteen."

"You certainly don't look ten to me." Eli said sweeping his eyes over her.

"I'm a completely different person now, thank God."

"Well I'm sure you were super adorable then too."

"Wanna bet?" Clare said.

"Yes I would."

"We'll save that for another day. Right now, I'm hungry. Coffee and burgers at The Dot?" Clare propositioned.

"I'm buying." Eli said.

"Just as we agreed."

He and Clare walked back to The Dot in a comfortable silence. Eli was still thinking about what Clare had asked about everything being okay with his family. He wanted to tell her about his home life, but he was afraid that she would see him differently. Like she would think he was like his parents.

The two entered The Dot together and took a seat at a table in the back.

"So what are you going to order?" Clare asked picking up her menu.

"Uh, a cheeseburger maybe? Possibly a large coffee. And yourself?"

"Fries and a salad with a medium cappuccino."

"Ah, the best of both worlds." Eli said. Clare giggled. The two ordered their meals and began to talk again. "Okay," Eli said, "tell me about your past relationships. Let's see if I'm better than these jerks."

"Well I've only had one boyfriend before." Clare said looking at her hands.

"Okay, can I get a name please?" he pressed.

"K.C. Guthrie." she said uneasily.

Eli laughed out loud. "K.C. Guthrie? You dated that guy? Pardon my comment, but the dude's a total prick!"

"Shut up! He's a really nice guy once you get to know him." Clare said smacking Eli's arm.

"If you say so."

"Okay, well who have you dated then?" Clare said smugly.

"Of course you wouldn't know them so there would be no point in telling."

"So? I still want to know."

"Alright. I have had three girlfriends in my past. Rachel, Julia, and Becky." Eli counted off.

"Okay, so were they cute?"

"Clare…"

"Come on, I want to know!" she pressed with a smile.

"Yeah, they were pretty cute." Eli said sheepishly. "But not as cute as you." He took Clare's hand and kissed her fingers. He felt cold metal on his lips. Looking at what it was he saw it was a ring. Examining the ring further he saw that it said, 'Purity.' "Oh, so I see you have on an abstinence ring?" he said raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, that's part of the whole 'saint' thing. I took an oath of abstinence."

"Really? And, uh, how's that working out for you?" Eli said, suddenly uncomfortable."

"Just fine, I guess." Clare said, confused. "I see that you're not wearing a purity ring."

"Yeah, my beliefs are a bit different." said Eli, still uncomfortable.

"So you believe in sex before marriage?" she said a little stern.

"Yes, yes I do." he said with a little confidence.

"Have you ever…?"

"When's our food getting here? It feels like it's been a while." Eli said.

"Why are you avoiding the question?" Clare said getting annoyed.

"Because you won't like the answer." Eli said.

"I don't care. You're my boyfriend and I wanna know these things."

Eli sighed. "Okay fine, I have had sex before."

"Alright, well that's a bit against what I believe, but we all have our own beliefs. Were you at least in love?"

Eli was silent.

"Oh my God. So you just had sex with some girl you weren't even in love with?" Clare said heating up.

"More than one girl." Eli said looking away from her.

"Are you kidding? That's so, so…I can't even put it into words!"

"Why does this matter, Clare? What does it have to do with us?" Now it was Eli who was getting annoyed. She was totally over reacting to the whole situation.

"Because how do I know you won't try to have sex with me just because you can't keep your teenage hormones in check!"

Eli looked at her, hurt covering his face. "How could you even say that? Do you really think I'm that kind of guy? It wasn't like I raped those girls Clare! They wanted to do it too!"

Without even thinking Clare said, "So if a girl is willing then you'll just do her? Is that right?"

"Screw you Clare." Eli said before getting up and leaving The Dot.


	4. Not Completely Honest

Clare left the restaurant shortly after Eli had. She was angry with him for what he had told her, and even angrier when he said 'screw you' to her. The nerve of him! How could he even say that to her? He was the one who had given away God's most precious gift. Not to mention he probably took it from others.

Clare took out her cell phone and dialed Ali's number ferociously.

"Ali?" said Clare. "Can you come over? I need to talk to you."

Eli slammed the door to his room. What the hell was wrong with her? How could Clare judge him like that? It wasn't even her business anyway who he's slept with. She had no right to ask her those questions about his past.

"Eli!" he heard his older sister Alyssa call.

"What do you want?" he yelled back angrily.

"I'm going out tonight, will you watch Angie?"

"Yeah." Eli sighed. He then heard his mom start yelling at his dad. Pretty soon something would break or someone would get hurt. But that was the way it was. Eli reached towards his neck to put on his headphones, but only felt skin.

"God damn it!" he yelled. Clare had them. He forgot that he had given them to her. He was already angry enough, now this? Eli reached under his bed, searching for his old pair. They were a little broken, but it was better than nothing. He found them quickly enough and plugged them into his iPod. Turning the volume on high, Eli walked out of his room and out the front door. He sat on the stoop outside his house, closing his eyes, drowning himself in noise.

"So what?" Ali said to Clare as she told her about her fight with Eli.

Clare looked shocked. "What do you mean 'so what'? Ali, he had sex with girls he wasn't even in love with!"

"I had sex with Johnny and we weren't in love." Ali said reminded her.

"That's different." Clare said, looking down.

"How is it different Clare?" Ali accused.

"Because I'm not dating you!"

Ali took a deep breath. "Clare, I think that you're blowing this way out of proportion. He's still the same Eli, nothing has changed. You're just making things up in your head. Do you honestly think that Eli is going to make you do anything you don't want to?"

Clare was quiet for a while before answering. "No."

Clare walked down the sidewalk to Eli's house. She saw him sitting outside his door, wearing a pair of old beat down headphones. She could hear the music even though she was still feet away from him. Clare called his name, but he did not hear her.

"Eli!" she called again, a little louder this time. Still nothing. Slightly irritated, Clare walked up to him and ripped the headphones off of his head.

"Hey!" he yelled at her. "What the hell Clare?"

"I've got a few things I want to say to you." she said heatedly.

"Okay, talk." Eli said just as angry.

"One, I can't believe you would do that to those girls. Two, if you ever try to do something without my permission, I will kick you somewhere you do not want to be kicked. And three," her face softened, "I'm sorry."

"Excuse me?" Eli said surprised.

"I shouldn't have said what I said. You were right. It has nothing to do with you and me. It's in the past and I can't change that. Am I forgiven?"

Eli didn't say anything for a long time. He just looked at her with a blank stare.

"Am I?" Clare asked getting nervous.

Still silence.

"Eli, I'm sorry. I'll do anything."

"Anything?" Eli asked.

"Yes, yes, anything. Please."

"Okay. I want my headphones back, first of all." Clare reached into her bag and handed him the headphones. He took them and put them around his neck. "Much better." he said. "And also, kiss me." Eli smiled his lopsided smile.

Clare smiled widely. "If I have to." she joked. She walked over and sat next to him on the stoop and leaned her face towards his. As their lips touched, they both felt the same spark that came with their first kiss. Their fight had only made them stronger. Everything about their past relationships was out in the open and they knew that they had conquered the first step in beginning a real couple.

Eli and Clare's kiss began to become more passionate and rough. Eli put one hand on her waist and the other cupped her face. Clare's hands were both placed on his chest. Then they heard someone loudly clear their throat. Breaking apart quickly, they both looked up to see who was there.

"Mom," Eli said a little loudly, "what are you doing out here?"

"Alyssa wouldn't stop bitching at me to smoke outside. Something about putting the baby in danger." Eli's mother said. He looked down, embarrassed by her words. Eli's mother was a short woman with many lines on her face even though she was only thirty three. Her hair was dark like Eli's as were her eyes. "Well don't just stand there gawking at me. Introduce me to your little friend here." she said gesturing to Clare.

Reluctantly he said, "Mom this is Clare, Clare this is my mom."

"Good to meet you sweet pea, I'm Elaine." she said extending her arm to shake Clare's hand.

"It's nice to meet you too." Clare smiled. She looked down at their shaking hands and noticed a few dark spots on her arm that looked a lot like bruises, though they were too small. A puzzled look come over Clare's face.

"Girl, can't you ever just shut your God damn mouth?" someone had yelled from inside the house followed by something shattering.

"Damn your father Elijah." Elaine said throwing her cigarette on the ground and storming back into the house. "What the hell Robert? I can't enjoy a smoke without you breaking shit!"

"Clare I think you should leave now." Eli said pushing her off the stoop.

"Eli, what's going on?" Clare said confused.

"Nothing, everything's fine." Eli swiftly kissed Clare before grabbing her arm and pushing her towards the sidewalk. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay.…" Clare said.

Eli quickly went inside the house and closed the door, but Clare could still faintly hear screams coming from within the home.


	5. Suspicious Actions

Clare sat in her English class looking at the door. She had not seen Eli that morning or throughout the day. She wondered what had happened to him the day before and if it had anything to do with his absence.

"Sorry I'm late Miss Dawes." Clare turned around and saw Eli at the door handing the teacher a late slip. He walked over to his seat in front of Clare.

"Hey." he said to Clare.

"Where were you this morning? And what happened to your lip?" Clare said referring to the rather noticeable wound on Eli's mouth.

"Oh, well I just over slept. I didn't hear my alarm go off I guess." he said uncomfortably.

"And your lip?"

"I tripped." Eli said.

"You tripped?" Clare said, not believing what he told her.

"Yeah, is that so hard to believe?" Eli said getting irritated.

"Mr. Goldsworthy and Miss Edwards, pay attention please." said Miss Dawes.

"Sorry." Eli said turning around and facing the front.

Clare leaned forward in her seat and whispered in his ear, "We'll talk at lunch."

The lunch bell rang soon after Miss Dawes assigned homework to the class. Everyone quickly got up from their seats to head out for their food. Eli and Clare left the room together in silence. As they entered the cafeteria and chose a table, Clare sighed and said, "Look, I'm sorry about before. I just, I worry about you sometimes."

Eli took her hands in his. "There's nothing to worry about Clare, really there isn't. I'm fine. My lip is fine. Everything's fine. Okay?"

"Okay." Clare answered still not believing him.

"So what are we doing after school today?" Eli asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"I don't care." Clare said nonchalantly.

"I chose what we did yesterday, so it's your turn today."

"Hmm…" Clare hummed, "How about we go over to your place? You've seen mine, it's about time I see yours."

"You were there yesterday." Eli said shortly.

"We were outside the house, not inside it. Being outside doesn't count."

"What's wrong with your house?" he asked agitated.

"My mom is hosting a book club meeting." she answered. "Come on Eli. We haven't had a lot of time to just be with each other, alone." Clare actually just wanted to see if Eli was telling the truth. She could tell that something was up and she wanted to investigate.

Eli thought for a minute. "Okay, my parents have an…appointment and they won't be back til late. Lyssa is staying with a friend tonight so I was gonna be stuck at home babysitting anyway. What the hell, right?"

"Yay!" Clare squealed excitedly. Eli laughed at her. "Don't laugh at me, I'm excited." she said.

"There's really nothing to be excited about. My house is just like any other. It has a ceiling, some walls, and lot's of tacky furniture." Eli told her offhandedly.

"I don't care. I still want to see what your man cave is like."

"My man cave?" Eli laughed.

"Yes, your man cave." Clare laughed back.

"The house itself isn't really manly just to warn you. But if you want to see manly, then I'll take you to my bedroom." Eli hinted.

"Nice try Hun, but I don't think we'll be spending too much time in your room." Clare said with a smile.

"Damn and here I thought you were naïve." Eli said sarcastically, "Clare, you know I wouldn't do that. I mean not unless you wanted to." he winked at her.

"Okay, that's enough talk about this." Clare said looking at the ceiling.

Eli examined her expression for a moment, a sly grin crossing his face. "Oh my God, you so want to!"

"Shut up! I don't, really." Clare said trying to look serious.

"And you're a bad liar! Ha, I knew it!"

"Okay fine, so maybe I want to. That doesn't mean anything! That does not mean I'm going to. I took an vow of abstinence."

"But you still want to with me." Eli looked at her cunningly.

"You know what, the bell is going to ring soon. We should get to class." Clare said packing up her stuff.

"You want to do it with me, you want to do it with me." Eli sang.

"Shut up, you jerk!" Clare laughed hitting him with her bag.

The bell rang as Clare predicted and people began to exit the lunchroom.

"So after school, your place?" Clare said.

"Yeah, I guess. Meet me outside in the parking lot, I'll give you a ride."

"Alright, see ya later Hun."

"Bye babe." Eli gave her a kiss and they set off at different directions down the hall.

Clare sat in her English class looking at the door. She had not seen Eli that morning or throughout the day. She wondered what had happened to him the day before and if it had anything to do with his absence.

"Sorry I'm late Miss Dawes." Clare turned around and saw Eli at the door handing the teacher a late slip. He walked over to his seat in front of Clare.

"Hey." he said to Clare.

"Where were you this morning? And what happened to your lip?" Clare said referring to the rather noticeable wound on Eli's mouth.

"Oh, well I just over slept. I didn't hear my alarm go off I guess." he said uncomfortably.

"And your lip?"

"I tripped." Eli said.

"You tripped?" Clare said, not believing what he told her.

"Yeah, is that so hard to believe?" Eli said getting irritated.

"Mr. Goldsworthy and Miss Edwards, pay attention please." said Miss Dawes.

"Sorry." Eli said turning around and facing the front.

Clare leaned forward in her seat and whispered in his ear, "We'll talk at lunch."

The lunch bell rang soon after Miss Dawes assigned homework to the class. Everyone quickly got up from their seats to head out for their food. Eli and Clare left the room together in silence. As they entered the cafeteria and chose a table, Clare sighed and said, "Look, I'm sorry about before. I just, I worry about you sometimes."

Eli took her hands in his. "There's nothing to worry about Clare, really there isn't. I'm fine. My lip is fine. Everything's fine. Okay?"

"Okay." Clare answered still not believing him.

"So what are we doing after school today?" Eli asked, trying to lighten up the mood.

"I don't care." Clare said nonchalantly.

"I chose what we did yesterday, so it's your turn today."

"Hmm…" Clare hummed, "How about we go over to your place? You've seen mine, it's about time I see yours."

"You were there yesterday." Eli said shortly.

"We were outside the house, not inside it. Being outside doesn't count."

"What's wrong with your house?" he asked agitated.

"My mom is hosting a book club meeting." she answered. "Come on Eli. We haven't had a lot of time to just be with each other, alone." Clare actually just wanted to see if Eli was telling the truth. She could tell that something was up and she wanted to investigate.

Eli thought for a minute. "Okay, my parents have an…appointment and they won't be back til late. Lyssa is staying with a friend tonight so I was gonna be stuck at home babysitting anyway. What the hell, right?"

"Yay!" Clare squealed excitedly. Eli laughed at her. "Don't laugh at me, I'm excited." she said.

"There's really nothing to be excited about. My house is just like any other. It has a ceiling, some walls, and lot's of tacky furniture." Eli told her offhandedly.

"I don't care. I still want to see what your man cave is like."

"My man cave?" Eli laughed.

"Yes, your man cave." Clare laughed back.

"The house itself isn't really manly just to warn you. But if you want to see manly, then I'll take you to my bedroom." Eli hinted.

"Nice try Hun, but I don't think we'll be spending too much time in your room." Clare said with a smile.

"Damn and here I thought you were naïve." Eli said sarcastically, "Clare, you know I wouldn't do that. I mean not unless you wanted to." he winked at her.

"Okay, that's enough talk about this." Clare said looking at the ceiling.

Eli examined her expression for a moment, a sly grin crossing his face. "Oh my God, you so want to!"

"Shut up! I don't, really." Clare said trying to look serious.

"And you're a bad liar! Ha, I knew it!"

"Okay fine, so maybe I want to. That doesn't mean anything! That does not mean I'm going to. I took an vow of abstinence."

"But you still want to with me." Eli looked at her cunningly.

"You know what, the bell is going to ring soon. We should get to class." Clare said packing up her stuff.

"You want to do it with me, you want to do it with me." Eli sang.

"Shut up, you jerk!" Clare laughed hitting him with her bag.

The bell rang as Clare predicted and people began to exit the lunchroom.

"So after school, your place?" Clare said.

"Yeah, I guess. Meet me outside in the parking lot, I'll give you a ride."

"Alright, see ya later Hun."

"Bye babe." Eli gave her a kiss and they set off at different directions down the hall.


	6. Another Test at Love

After school, Eli stood on the steps outside the school waiting for Clare.

"Hey man," he heard someone say. Eli turned around and saw Adam standing behind him. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, my friend. How about yourself?"

"Eh, the usual. Got any plans tonight with you know who?" Adam pressed.

"Yeah," Eli smiled, "Clare's coming over to my house today."

"Your house? Wow, I'm not even allowed to go to your house. You gonna nail her?" Adam nudged him.

"No dude, come one, she wears an abstinence ring."

"That hasn't stopped you before."

"Clare's different. Our relationship is different. I wanna do this right." Eli saw Clare walk up behind Adam. "Speak of the devil. Hey cutie." Eli greeted her with a kiss.

"Hey Adam." Clare waved.

"Hi Clare." Adam said back. "Well I better get going then. Bye guys."

"Bye." Eli and Clare waved. Eli took Clare's hand and pulled her towards the parking lot.

"So what have you got planned for us?" Clare asked.

"You, my dear, will be helping me babysit my little sister."

"Sounds like fun." Clare grinned.

"Oh yes, very romantic." Eli said sarcastically. He opened a door for Clare when they got to his car.

"Thank you." she said as he climbed in through the driver's side. "So this is what it's like on the inside of a hearse." Clare observed.

"Yep, pretty nice huh?" Eli said.

"It is actually, I'm surprised."

"Why surprised?"

"I just thought that it would be more depressing in a hearse."

"It's only depressing if there's a body in the back." Eli joked. Clare made a worried face. "Don't worry, there's not." he assured her.

"Okay good."

Eli drove his hearse, Morty, back to his house in silence as he listened to Clare talk about her writing assignment. She thinks that she finally has a good ending for the essay about her sister, Darcy.

"I have it with me. Could you read it when we get to your house?" she asked.

"That's my job, isn't it?" Eli said.

"Thanks, and don't lie and say it's good if it's not."

"Have I ever done that?" Eli smiled.

"No, but we weren't together before."

"I highly doubt you would break up with me if I told you your paper was bad."

"Wanna bet?" Clare said seriously. Eli gave her a stunned look. "I'm just kidding, calm down." she laughed.

"That wasn't very nice." Eli laughed back.

"I'm sorry, do you forgive me?" Clare said innocently.

"Of course." Eli pulled into a driveway and turned the car off. "Well, here we are." he said gesturing to the house. "Come on."

Eli and Clare stepped out of the car and up to the door. "I warn you, it might be a little messy. It's not like your house."

"I don't mind." Clare said. Eli opened the door and led Clare inside.

"This is it." The inside of the house was darker than the exterior. The furniture was old and drab. Toys littered the floor as did a few bottles of unidentified substances. Clare looked around and saw that a broken vase lay on the floor next to the pedestal it probably fell from.

"This is…"

"Dirty, unattractive, poor?" Eli said for her.

"I wasn't going to say it like that."

"You didn't have to. I know what my house looks like."

"Elijah, is that you?" came a slurred voice from the kitchen.

"Oh no." Eli whispered.

"What? What's wrong?" Clare whispered back. Eli's mom Elaine stumbled into the room.

"Mom, what are you doing here? I thought you and Dad were going out." Eli said nervously.

"Your dad already left to meet the dealer, I'm going now." she said. She seemed to be unaware of what she was saying. Eli closed his eyes as if he couldn't believe what she just said. Clare looked at Mrs. Goldsworthy with her mouth open. She seemed to notice Clare's stunned face.

"Elijah didn't tell you sweet pea? I'm guessing that's why you have that look."

"Tell me what?" Clare said looking at Eli.

"It's nothing." Eli said to Clare. "There's nothing to tell Mom." he said this time to his mother.

"You know how I feel about lying Elijah." Elaine said shaking her head.

"Mom, please don't." Eli pleaded.

"I guess you can call me a bit of an addict." Elaine laughed as if the whole thing were a big joke. "His dad and I enjoy shooting up on heroin, smoking crack, or snorting crank. In fact, that's what I'm going to do right now." she walked past Clare and Eli swiftly, but quite ungracefully. "Bye kids, have a nice night. Oh and Alyssa just dropped off Angela, she's asleep in her room." Elaine smiled, waved, and left the house as if nothing had happened.

Eli stood there for a second before sinking to the floor in a state of shock. Clare didn't know what to say, so she just stood there.

"I knew we shouldn't have come here." Eli said after a few minutes. "I'm sorry Clare. I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want you to find out, and certainly not like this." Clare was silent still. "Please say something." Eli said.

"I don't know what to say." Clare said finally.

Eli sighed. "If you want to leave you can."

Clare looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't you want to go?" Eli asked, just as confused.

"Of course not, why would I go? You're not the one with the problem." Clare said sitting on the floor beside him.

"Clare, I'm not like you. My parents aren't like yours. My house isn't what you're used to. Why do you want to be with me? My parents are druggies, they blow all our money on booze and drugs and they don't care who knows. I can't even leave my baby sister home alone with them unless someone else is here. Me and Lyssa are practically raising her on our own. Why would you wanna be with a guy like that?"

Clare put her arm around Eli's shoulders and leaned her head against the niche of his neck. "I wanna be with you because you make me think. We have actual conversations and we have fun together. You treat me differently than other guys and we have a real relationship."

Eli took a deep breath and leaned against her. "I don't know what I'm going to do Clare. What's going to happen after Lyssa moves away? She's almost eighteen. I'm gonna be raising Angie by myself. And what about when I graduate? I can't leave her here alone with them."

"How did you and your older sister survive childhood?"

"My grandmother. She died when I was ten and was the only other family I had left."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. It's not your fault my family is the way it is." The two heard a wailing cry come from upstairs. "That's Angie." Eli said, stating the obvious. He stood up and offered a hand to Clare. She took it and got on her feet. Clare followed Eli up the stairs and into the room with the screaming infant.

Eli walked over to the crib and picked up the child. "Hey baby girl, what's the matter?" he cooed. The wailing quickly subsided.

"Wow," Clare said, "you're really good at that."

"I'm like her dad, I should be good at it." he chuckled. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Oh no, I'm not good with kids." Clare protested.

"I bet she'll love you." Eli gently placed the baby in Clare's arms, and cradled her. Angie looked up at her and smiled. "See, I told you she'd love you, just like I do." Clare looked at Eli with a warm face and he returned the look. "I have to get her a bottle, it's almost five o clock."

They all went downstairs and Eli put a bottle of formula into the microwave.

"So, you do this every day?" Clare asked.

"Yep, ever since she was born."

"That's amazing, taking the intuitive to care for her like that."

"I'm her brother, I love her and I'll do anything I need to do to keep her safe and happy." Eli took the bottle out of the microwave and Clare gave the baby back to him. They sat on the couch and Clare watched as Eli fed his sister.

"She's so cute." she said.

"Yeah, my sisters and I are lucky we all turned out okay with parents like that." he said while putting Angie in a swinging chair.

"Eli…" Clare started.

"You don't need to say anything, Clare. I don't need any sympathy. This is my life, and there's nothing I can do but accept it."

Clare touched Eli's cheek with her palm. "You're really brave." she said before kissing him. Eli put his hand on the small of her back and kissed back forcefully. He slid his hand down to her hips, wanting to go lower. Clare stopped him, sensing what he was going to do.

"Above the waist rule, Eli." she informed him.

"Oh yeah, that's right, I have to help protect your virtue or whatever." he sighed. "Not whatever." Clare said, "This is important to me."

"I know, I'm sorry." Eli said dropping his hands.

"But that doesn't mean we still can't kiss." she said slyly, picking his hands back up and placing them on her sides.

"This is true." he said smiling as he kissed her.

Neither of the two knew how long they were like that until the front door burst open. Two figures came through the open space, bringing with them a foul stench and loud laughter. At the noise, Clare and Eli sprang apart from one another.

"Please God no, not tonight." Eli whispered before grabbing a bag behind the swinging chair and then Angie. "Come on, Clare. We have to go." he said practically pulling her off the couch.

"Where's my little Angela?" stammered the voice of Eli's mother. Eli pushed Clare into the kitchen with his free hand and towards the back door. "Elijah, there you are! Here, let me see my baby girl." Mrs. Goldsworthy said appearing in the kitchen, her arms stretched wide.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Mom." Eli said cautiously.

"Dammit Elijah, give me my baby!" Elaine said hitting the refrigerator. Angie began to cry from the yelling and pounding. "See?" she said, "She wants her mama." Elaine grabbed the wailing child out of Eli's arms and began to shake her. "Mommy's here, baby! You can stop crying!" she yelled in the infant's face.

Clare stood horrified as she watched Angie's red face contort in fits of anguish. Her head lolled around uncontrollably as her mother shook her. Eli was frozen with shock and couldn't move.

"Stop crying baby!" Eli's mother screamed frustrated.

Eli's body caught up with his mind and he snatched the baby from his mother's grasp. "Mom you're going to hurt her!" he yelled as he stepped closer to the door.

"Oh I see. You're going to try and steal my child from me? Is that it? You think I'm an unfit mother?" Elaine's eyes filled with tears. "My own son!"

"What the hell is going on in here?" Eli's father, Robert, yelled walking into the kitchen. He looked at Eli's tearing mother and the screaming child. "Boy, what did you do this time? Did you hurt your mother's feelings again?"

"No sir, of course not." Eli said hurriedly.

"You lying piece of shit! You know what happens to liars around here." Robert said taking a step forward.

A frightened look crossed Eli's face and he threw the bag at Clare and placed the baby in her arms. "Go now Clare, I'll meet you out there."

She was stunned for a moment and then the realization of what was happening hit her. Clare took her chance and bolted for the door leaving it open for Eli to follow her. But he was not as close to the door as Clare and was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and thrown against the wall.

"Where do you think you're going boy?" Robert yelled. He swung back his large fist and flung it forward into Eli's stomach. He couldn't breathe for a few seconds, but the abuse continued. Before Eli could stop him, his father flung his fist directly into his face, hitting his nose. Again he was hit in the face, the massive fist landing on his already wounded lip.

Eli was stunned for a few moments but had to think quickly if he wanted to get away. As Robert pulled back his fist for another blow, Eli moved his head swiftly to the side to avoid the giant hand. There was a loud banging noise as the fist collided with the wall.

"You son of a bitch!" Robert yelled as he let go of Eli to massage his knuckles. The second he was released, Eli flew out the door and down the block. He knew his father wouldn't go after him. He didn't care enough to chase his son.

After a few minutes of running, Eli spotted Clare. Though she was a good ten feet away, he could see that Clare was terrified. He didn't blame her either. Eli ran to her as fast as he could, calling her name. When she turned to him, her face only became more horrified.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Clare's free hand hovered above the wounds on his face.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" Eli asked just as worried.

"I don't know." she said over Angie's whimpering.

"Dammit, I knew we shouldn't have gone there." he said angrily. Eli sighed trying to clear his head. "How's Angie?" he asked taking her into his arms.

"She's fine," Clare answered, "I think she's just scared."

"That's understandable."

Now it was Clare who sighed. "Eli, you need to tell someone about this. A teacher or a counselor."

"No, no way." he said aggressively.

"You're getting hurt! It's not safe there and you know it."

"Okay, so let's say I tell someone. Then what? Someone might try to help me and Angie grows up in a foster home alone with no family? I don't think so."

"Well you can't stay there! Your parents are a threat to your safety and to both of your sisters'."

"Look Clare, what happened in there was my fault. I knew what was going on and I knew what was going to happen. I should have had you and Angie out of there the second I heard the door open. Actually, you should not have been there at all."

Clare was silent for a moment. "You can't go back there now." she finally said. "Come on." Clare took his free hand and pulled him down the street. "You're staying at my house tonight."

"I'm sure your parents would love that." Eli said sarcastically. "What are you going to tell them?"

"They know when to not ask questions."

"I don't know Clare…"

She stopped walking. "Hun," she said frighteningly, poking him in the chest, "you are not going back to your house tonight and I refuse to let you wonder the streets, especially with a baby. You are coming with me." Eli looked at Clare for a moment before giving up the argument and letting her pull him along down the street.


	7. Judgements and Accusations

Clare's house was about a twenty minute walk from where Eli lived. Angie had fallen asleep on the way there which was a great thing. It was always difficult to put Angie to sleep, but once it was done she slept like a rock.

They entered the house quietly and Clare flicked on some lights.

"Mom? Dad?" she called. There was silence throughout the house. Clare called again. There was a thumping noise from the floor above them followed by someone coming down the stairs.

"There you are Clare." the voice of her mother traveled down the staircase to them. "I thought -," she stopped talking as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw the scene before her. "Clare, what's going on?" she asked slowly.

"Mom, you remember Eli." Clare said casually.

"Of course. Why is he here? And with a baby?"

Clare shook her head quickly giving her mother a stern look.

"Oh, I see." Clare's mom said shortly, understanding what her daughter was indicating. "Here Eli, you can sleep on the couch and clean up in the bathroom. Clare, you can get some blankets from the closet." she said gesturing to a room down the hall. She paused for a moment. "Does your…baby need anything?"

"No, I've got everything for her. Thank you Mrs. Edwards."

"You're welcome, dear." she said turning around. "Clare, could you come with me upstairs for minute?"

"Yeah sure." Clare turned to Eli for a moment. "I'll get you some blankets then."

"Okay." he said walking to the bathroom. Clare watched him close the door and she headed up the stairs to meet her mother.

"What is this Clare? What's going on?" Mrs. Edwards said angrily once she saw her daughter.

"He needed a place to stay." Clare sighed.

"Is that his baby?" her mom said suspiciously.

"No Mom, it's his sister!" Clare answered irritated.

"What's wrong with his house?"

"He had a fight with his parents."

"Why couldn't the baby stay at his house?" she said pounding her with questions. "And what happened to his face? Did his parents do that?"

"Mom, just drop it! It's not my business to tell, and it's not yours to know." Clare said annoyed.

"I should know if he's being mistreated in that house."

Clare knew she should tell her mother the truth, but Eli was right. What good would come of it?

"He's not, Mom. He and his parents just got into an argument is all." she lied.

Clare's mother studied her face. "Alright," she said, "but only for tonight, you hear me?"

"Yes yes, thank you Mom."

"Okay. I love you." Mrs. Edwards said before walking to her bedroom.

"I love you too." Clare stood there a moment before going to the closet to get some things for Eli. As she made her way down the steps, Clare watched as Eli placed the sleeping Angie on the loveseat surrounded by cushions. He looked up and saw Clare.

"Homemade crib." he smiled pointing. Clare walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into the front of his shirt.

"Hey, what is it? What's wrong?" Eli asked putting his own arms around her shoulders.

"I don't want you to go back there." she said into his chest.

Eli sighed. "I'll be fine, Clare. I promise."

Clare pulled away slightly, her arms still around him. "Eli, look at yourself, you're not fine!"

Eli gestured to his face casually, "What, this? This is nothing. Just a few scrapes and cuts." Clare took a step back from him, crossing her arms and giving him a worried look.

Eli held his breath before letting out the air. "Look," he said, "it's been a long day. Let's both just get some sleep. Kay?"

"Okay." Clare nodded, still upset. Eli kissed her forehead before sitting down on the sofa. Clare turned around, walked up the stairs and into the her bathroom. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Clare took a deep breath.

"Okay," she said to herself, "it's okay." She took another breath. Thinking back on the day's events, she couldn't believe it had happened at all. The whole situation was too unreal. Why couldn't she have listened to Eli and stayed away from his home? How could the thought of him not wanting to see how he lived not have crossed her mind?

Clare quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth before slipping into some old sweats and sliding under her covers. But not even the comfort of her sheets could help lull her to sleep. Thoughts of Eli and his parents would not leave her head. With all her heart, Clare wanted to help, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized Eli was right. There are thousands of cases involving abusive parents and only some are investigated. Even if someone were to help him, Angie would grow up alone in a foster home.

Confused and upset, Clare rolled onto her back and stared blankly at the ceiling. And she thought that her parents were bad. She couldn't even imagine what she'd do if she were in Eli's position. It was something that you only see on television or in movies, never real life. It took a long while, but eventually Clare was able to nod off into an uneasy sleep.

Downstairs, Eli still laid awake on the sofa. He couldn't stop blaming himself for what happened with his parents. He knew what could have happened, so why did he bring Clare there? Why did he put Clare's safety and their relationship at risk? Eli felt so stupid, so ignorant. He wasn't usually like that. He looked over at Angie over in the loveseat. She looked so peaceful, so innocent. Eli smiled as she turned in her sleep. It had been well past midnight by the time Eli had fallen asleep himself.

"Randall, do you see what's happening here?" Eli woke up to the sound of Clare's parents talking heatedly in the kitchen. "First she's bringing home boys, next she's telling us she's pregnant. We have to do something!"

"Like what? Tell her she's not allowed to see him anymore?" Eli heard Clare's father say.

"That's what we should be doing! That boy is nothing but trouble. Every time I see him, he's got some sort of injury. He seems to always be getting into fights! I don't want our daughter around that kind of atmosphere."

Eli was astounded at what he was hearing, but listened further.

Clare's mother took a sharp intake of breath. "Just look at him, Randall. He probably does drugs and parties all the time. How could you want that kind of influence around Clare?"

Eli could not take any more of this. He briskly got up off the couch and walked into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing what a horrible person I was."

Clare's parents stood there looking at him, their mouths hanging open. Mrs. Edwards stuttered. "Eli, uh, what are you doing awake so early?" she finally said.

"I'm used to waking up to noisy people." Eli spat at them. "I know I'm not the best person in the world, but I'm no juvenile delinquent running from the law. I don't know how anyone could just stand around and talk about someone so poorly without even knowing them."

"We didn't know-" Mr. Edwards tried to say.

"That I was listening?" Eli finished. "Well I was." he went back into the living room and grabbed Angie and her diaper bag while Clare's parents still stood shocked in the kitchen. Walking back into the room he said, "Oh, and one last thing. I care about your daughter and I would never intentionally do anything to hurt her." With that he left Clare's house and started to walk back to his own home.

"What's all the yelling about?" Clare asked as she walked down the steps shortly after Eli walked out. Mr. and Mrs. Edwards just stood there in a stunned silence. Sensing something askew, Clare feverishly walked into the living room to find it empty. "Where's Eli?" she asked crossing her arms.

There was a small pause before Mrs. Edwards answered her daughter. "He left, Clare."

"He left?" Clare said dumbfounded.

"Yes."

"What did you do?" she asked her parents while putting on her shoes. They didn't say anything. "You guys are unbelievable!" Clare ran out the front door and saw Eli walking down the street not too far from where she was. "Eli!" she called. He turned and looked at her, hurt in his eyes.

Clare ran to him. "What happened?" she demanded.

"Oh nothing new, just being judged by my appearance is all." he said annoyed.

"Elaborate please?"

He sighed. "I overheard your parents talking. They don't want you to see me. They think I'm some bad kid who's into starting fights and doing drugs. They think that with you being with me, you're going to get pregnant or hurt."

Clare couldn't believe what she was hearing. "They think you do what? And they think I'll end up being what?" she almost screeched. "I'm going back there and I'm going to give them a piece of my mind." Clare said starting to head back.

Eli grabbed her with his free hand. "Don't," he said, "it'll only make things worse. Just forget it."

Clare looked at him. "I'm sorry, Hun."

"I guess I can't come to your house anymore." he joked.

"Sure you can. Just when they're not home." she giggled.

Eli made a face that was a cross between humor and sadness.

"Hey," Clare said touching his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too."


	8. Six Month Memories

The beginning of Clare and Eli's relationship started out a little rocky, but things quickly began to smooth over. The months went by and they turned into Degrassi's new power couple. Sure they had their ups and downs, but in the end they were always happy to just be together. The problems in the early stages of their relationship only made them strong and showed that they were willing to overcome any obstacle to be with one another.

Clare and Eli had been together for a long time and their six month anniversary was soon approaching. Eli had been thinking of something special to do for weeks. He even asked Adam for a little help. The day had finally arrived. It was a Friday, perfect for an evening out with his lady.

Standing by his locker, he discussed with Adam how excited he was for his evening with Clare.

"It's going to be perfect, man. I've got everything planned out."

"I know, you've only told me a million times." Adam said with a sigh. "But whatever, you and your chick have fun tonight. And don't screw it up." he warned.

"I won't, how can I screw it up?"

"I know you dude."

Two small hands suddenly covered Eli's eyes. "Guess who?" said an anonymous voice from behind him.

"It's either the cold dead hands from my freezer, or my beautiful girlfriend."

Adam rolled his eyes. "I'm out of here, before I puke."

Clare removed her hands from Eli's face. "Happy six month anniversary." she said.

"Oh that's today? I almost forgot." he teased turning to face her. "Now, what are we going to do tonight? What to do…Oh! I know what to do!" Eli said with false surprise.

"What, Eli!" Clare said just as fake but with a hint of curiosity.

" You can meet me in the lot after school!" he said. "I have a surprise for you."

"Oh, please tell me!" she begged. "Please, please, please?"

Eli pretended to give it some thought. "Nope, sorry babe. You're just going to have to wait. But I do know something that can tide you over until then."

"And what might that be?" Eli leaned down and kissed Clare's lips pushing her against the lockers. Clare smiled into the kiss and said, "This is helping." Eli smiled and continued to kiss her.

"Aw, isn't that just so super cute." someone said behind them.

Eli slowly turned around, recognizing the voice. "What do you want, Fitz?"

"Oh nothing, just came to wish you guys a happy six month." Fitz said ruffling Eli's hair. Eli smacked his hand away. "Hey now, that wasn't very polite."

"I guess I forgot my manners." Eli said taking a step toward him.

Clare grabbed his arm. "Stop it Eli, not today." she pleaded.

"Listen to your girlfriend emo boy." Fitz said menacingly.

"Come on, let's just go please?" she said.

Eli stood there for a few more seconds debating if he should walk away or punch Fitz where he stood. "Fine, let's go Clare." Eli grabbed his bag and elbowed Fitz out of the way.

"Why can't you just let it go, Eli?" Clare said as they walked down the hallway. "It was a long time ago."

_Eli pulled into the school parking lot, looking for his assigned parking spot. Approaching the area he saw a small group of people standing. Annoyed, Eli honked his horn. When they failed to move, he stuck his head out the window and yelled, "Yeah, excuse me!" the boys laughed and continued to stand there looking at him. "Okay, what's wrong with you?" he yelled out his window._

_One of the boys in the group walked forward towards his car and ripped off his skull hood ornament. Angry, Eli got out of his hearse and walked up to him. He recognized the boy as one of the school bullies, Fitz. "Yeah, destroy my car over a freaking parking spot!" _

_"Aw, you want a tissue?" said Fitz pretending to wipe his eyes._

_"Give me that." Eli said indicating the skull in the bully's hand. _

_Fitz threw the piece of metal against the fence behind them. "Oops."_

_Eli took a step towards him. "Go get it." he said getting angrier. _

_"Is that the best you got?" The two boys stood there staring at each other before Fitz said to Adam, "'The hell are you looking at?" _

_"Trying to figure that out." he said._

_Fitz stood there a little longer before pretending to lunge at Eli and then walking away. _

"I can't show him that he's better than me." he said stubbornly.

"But he's not, you know that." she said.

"You don't get it Clare. I have to fight back, that's the only way to get respect."

_"So he just broke your car?" Clare asked the day Fitz damaged Eli's car._

_"Snapped Morty's hood ornament off. What's the world coming to?" There was a loud banging noise up ahead. Clare and Eli looked up to see Adam being thrown against the lockers by Fitz. _

_"Figure out what you're looking at yet?"Fitz said._

_"Still trying to process the smell." Adam said coldly._

_"Hard to do with a broken nose." he raised his fist and was about to strike when Eli threw down his walk and ran in between them, throwing back Fitz's arm._

_"Woah, tell me something, what were you thinking when you got that haircut? No seriously, are there auditions for the Planet of the Apes remake that I didn't hear about?" Fitz grabbed the front of Eli's shirt, but he held his ground._

_"He's got the odor part down." Adam interjected. "Guys, teacher." he warned. _

_Fitz let go of Eli. "This isn't over." With that, he walked away leaving Eli, Adam and Clare in the hallway. _

_"You okay?" Eli asked Adam as Clare walked up to the them. Adam nodded. "We find ourselves in the classic struggle between bully and bullied. There's only one way to play that game."_

_"By ignoring him?" Clare offered, handing Eli his bag. _

_"By refusing to be the victim."_

_The next day at school, Eli got out of his car and spotted Clare. "Hey, Clare!" he called. "So I've considered your 'ignore the bully' theory, and it's just so unsatisfying. Not like say, I don't know, a punch in the face."_

_"I thought violence wasn't your style." Clare pointed out. "Or are the rumors true?"_

_"What are these supposed rumors?" he asked._

_"I don't know, people say you're obsessed with death, which might have something to do with the hearse." she said._

_"People can say what they want." Eli said. "My style is not going to jerks get away with being jerks."_

_"I just don't see the point in getting caught up in a cycle of violence." _

_"Turn the other cheek, right?"_

_"Worked for Jesus."_

_Eli laughed. "Right, like that's a matter of opinion."_

_"Do what you want, but you don't have to impress me, okay?" _

_Eli took hold of Clare's arm and they stopped walking. "Clare, who says I'm trying to impress you?" he smiled. Clare gave him a look. "Fine, I'll call off the dog, smooth things over" he surrendered._

_"I knew you were smart." she grinned. _

_"Eli!" someone yelled in a sing song voice. Clare and Eli looked over and saw Fitz standing a few feet away from them._

_"Mm, two syllables. Good, good for you." Eli said. _

_Fitz walked over to him. "You just can't keep your mouth shut, can you?"_

_"You broke my car. Just apologize and we can both go back to ignoring each others' existences." _

_"Sure, no problem," he said walking closer to them, "I'm sorry, about your nards." _

_"About my wha-?" before Eli could finish, Fitz kneed him hard in the groin. Eli fell to the ground clutching himself in pain. _

_"I apologized." Fitz said walking away laughing. _

_Clare bent down beside Eli putting her hand on his shoulder. "What can I do?" she asked worriedly._

_His head fell back into her lap as he said, "Don't touch anything!" he let out an exasperated breath. "Still think I shouldn't punch him?"_

_"I think it'll only make things worse."_

_Despite what Clare had said, Eli couldn't hold himself back from getting revenge on Fitz. He knew that Adam would understand so he and his friend concocted a plan to get Fitz off their backs. Eli had told Fitz that he promised to leave him and his friends alone that he would get him an authentic looking fake ID, which of course Fitz agreed to._

_Eli and Adam put the name of an escaped arsonist on the fake ID for Fitz. Eli then called the cops telling them he was in trouble and needed help immediately. Walking up to Fitz shortly after the phone call was made he said, "Hey moron, the fake ID worked eh?" he cocked his head toward the cigarette Fitz had. "Those things will kill you."_

_"What the hell do you want?" _

_Giving Fitz a snide look, Eli pushed roughly. Fitz then grabbed Eli and the two began to fight. Fitz punched Eli, but Eli wasn't very interested in fighting back. He just wanted to look like the victim for when the cops showed up. _

_"You had enough?" Fitz said._

_"You punch like my grandma." Eli said smiling. _

_"Oh really?" he said continuing to hit him. Sirens started in the distance and Fitz stopped fighting Eli, about to run. But Eli grabbed him by the leg and forced him to stay. "Let go, it's the cops man!" _

_"Hey! This is over!" one of police officers said, stepping out of the car. "Turn around!" The two police officers took Fitz and Eli and threw them against the wall, feeling for their wallets. "You stay here while I run these." she said getting out their ID's. _

_"Sucks to be you." Fitz said. _

_"Why is that?" _

_"That fake ID, they won't even know who I am."_

_"Guess it's your lucky day." Eli smiled. _

_One of the cops tapped Eli on the shoulder, indicating he can go while the other said, "Hands behind your back." to Fitz. _

_"What did I do?" he asked confused. _

_"We'll sort that out at the station."_

_"What about me, officer?" Eli said innocently._

_"You can go, we've got bigger fish to fry today."_

_"I didn't do anything!" Fitz yelled._

_"Yeah? Then you've got nothing to worry about. You have the right to remain silent."_

_"What did he tell you?"_

_"I can make that an order." Fitz was placed in the back of the police car confused and angry. Eli stood and watched as they drove away with a triumphant look upon his face._

"And how is that working out for you?"

Eli took a deep breath. "Clare, just drop it, please?"

"Fine, I'll drop it. But only because I don't want to argue on our anniversary."

"Ahh, our anniversary." Eli said smiling. "We sound like an old married couple."

Clare laughed. "Will you still love me when I'm old and wrinkly?"

"Of course."

Throughout the day, people were congratulating the couple with hugs and "have a great day"'s. Even Mr. Simpson mentioned it. But even with all the happiness they were getting from their peers, Eli and Clare couldn't wit until the end of the day so they could go on their date.

"Will you tell me what you've got planned now?" Clare asked getting antsy as they walked to Eli's car when the final bell rang.

"Patience, my dear, patience. You'll know soon enough." he opened her door for her and she stepped inside.

"Are you at least going to tell me where we're going?" Clare asked as the car started to move.

"Nope." Eli said shortly. "Besides, I'm sure you'll figure it out on the way."

"I want to know so bad!" she said bouncing in her seat.

Eli laughed at her.

"You are so loving this." Clare said.

"Oh so much." he grinned. Eli parked his car in a lot next to the park. "Here we are." he got out of the vehicle and opened Clare's door for her, offering his hand.

She took it gratefully and said, "The park?" with a smile.

"Yeah this is where we went for our first date, remember?"

"How could I forget? It was our first date and our first fight."

"Don't remind me." They walked through the park hand in hand. "Are you ready?" Eli said as they approached a large pine tree.

Clare jumped up and down on the spot, squealing. "I'm more than ready!"

"Good." Eli covered her eyes with his hands and walked her forward behind the tree. "Okay, open your eyes." he said removing his hands.

Clare looked at the scene before her. Behind the large tree was a a blanket with a small basket and a tiny vase of flowers. "Wow Eli, this is so…"

"Amazing, sweet, romantic, charmingly brilliant?" he smiled.

"All of the above! Eli this is wonderful!" Clare threw her arms around Eli's neck and kissed him vigorously. He kissed her back with as much enthusiasm. Pulling apart, they sat on the ground and Eli began to extract various foods from the basket. They were all of Clare's favorites. She beamed as he filled her plate with different fruits, vegetables, and dessert items.

"Here you are my dear." Eli said handing her the meal.

"Thank you." Clare said smiling graciously. They ate their food and discussed their past dates and everything leading up to this moment in their relationship.

"Remember the time we went to dinner at that fancy restaurant and you couldn't stop laughing at our waiter's accent?" Eli said beginning to chuckle.

"Oh God, and soda came out my nose!" Clare laughed loudly recalling the memory. "The whole place was staring at us!"

"And then we were kicked out for 'disturbing the public.'"

"That was one of the funniest dates I've ever been on." They both laughed cheerfully. Once the giggling subsided, Clare got serious. "Remember when I first found out about your parents?" she said.

"I'd rather not." Eli said, his smile fading. "I'm still angry with myself for letting that happen."

"But it wasn't your fault." Clare said, sympathy in her eyes.

"Only it was my fault!" Eli closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "But it's in the past now. Let's just talk about something else."

Clare silently scolded herself for bringing the memory up in the first place. This was supposed to be a nice date for the both of them. She sighed, racking her brain for something else to talk about. "So how's Angie?"

"She's great, she's doing great." he smiled joyfully thinking about his baby sister. "She's learning how to-," Eli looked up and ceased speaking suddenly.

"Eli?" Clare said curiously, "What are you looking at?" She followed Eli's gaze and turned around. The smile on her face was quickly wiped clean and her expression turned blank. Walking along the path was a girl about their age. She wore short purple pants with studded pockets and a black tank top. Black fishnet stockings lined her legs and silver rings covered her fingers. But it wasn't her clothing that made her stand out, it was her face. The girl had the most beautiful features Clare had ever seen. The hair that framed her cheeks was long and red.

"Who's that?" Clare said in a low voice.

Clare's tone seemed to snap Eli out of his trance. "No idea." he said tearing his eyes away from the girl.

She looked at him skeptically.

"What?" he said.

"You think she's cute." accused Clare.

"Of course not, I only have eyes for you." Eli said smirking.

"Yeah, right." she said not believing him.

"What?" he chuckled.

"Don't give me that, I saw how your eyeballs popped out of your head when you saw her." she said that words lightly, but there was meaning behind them.

"Yeah, okay." he said this sarcastically to her, but it was true. The girl was stunning. When he saw her, he felt butterflies in his stomach. He never thought that he'd ever feel like that for anyone except Clare ever again. Apparently, he was wrong.


	9. She's Here

**SORRY IT'S SO SHORT D:**

"So how was it, dude?" Adam asked Eli the next day at school, referring to his and Clare's date the night before.

A slightly dazed look crossed Eli's face. "Amazing." he grinned.

"Did you guys do it?" Adam elbowed Eli in the ribs.

"Would you stop asking me that?" he chuckled. "We didn't do it. Like I said before, I'm not going to force her to do anything she doesn't want to do."

"Yeah, whatever." Adam smiled. "It still doesn't hurt to ask."

Eli playfully pushed him against a locker.

"Hey, let's not fight boys." came Clare's sing song voice from behind.

"Speak of the devil." Adam said.

"So how are you, Adam?"

Adam gave a Clare a pointed look. "I'd much rather know what went down on your sixth month date."

"Oh nothing really, is was just amazing." Clare said, her eyes twinkling. "Except for the fact that Eli had googly eyes for some other girl that was not me." she turned to Eli and glared.

Eli put his hands up in defense and Adam looked at him with a grin and wide eyes. "I was not! There was a girl at the park yesterday and I thought she was someone I knew." he stumbled over his words near the end of his sentence.

Clare looked at him with her mouth open in mock horror. "You liar! I know you thought she was gorgeous!" Eli just shook his head. "I won't be mad at you if you tell me the truth." she said.

Eli was silent for a moment before answering. "Okay, she was slightly appealing to look at." he said.

Adam stared at Clare waiting for her reaction. She looked at Eli with a look that read, 'You're in trouble.' but before she could speak Adam interrupted her. "Woah baby! Who is that?" Clare and Eli turned to see who Adam was referring to.

"That's her!" Clare pointed. "That's the girl from the park!" She was standing at the other end of the hallway, but was very visible and stood out profoundly, but in a good way. The girl was attempting to open her locker, but appeared to be struggling.

"'Slightly appealing to look at'?" Adam quoted. "Dude, the girl is hot!"

Clare huffed a bit before turning to leave. "I'll see you guys in class."

"Someone's a little jealous." Adam said when she was out of earshot.

"There's nothing to be jealous about, Clare is much more beautiful than that girl" Eli said.

"Then why are you still looking at her?"


	10. Sydney Smith

**Again, sorry it's so short, but the next one won't be I promise!**

Eli sat in front of Clare in English that day trying to pay attention to Miss Dawes. No matter how hard he tried, however, he couldn't get the image of that girl out of his mind. It was the strangest feeling. Eli had never even talked to this girl and yet he was somewhat attracted to her. But he couldn't feel that way. He loved Clare. Yeah, Clare, his girlfriend of six months. Clare. Eli smiled as he thought of his relationship with Clare. She was perfect. He shook off the image of the other girl and continued to listen to the lesson.

"Sorry I'm late, Miss Dawes." Everyone looked around towards the back of the room and saw the most beautiful any of them had ever seen.

_Are you shitting me? _Eli thought as soon as he saw her. It was the girl from the park, it was the girl from this morning.

"Miss Smith, glad you could join us." The girl walked to the front of the room and handed Miss Dawes a yellow note. "Class this is Sydney Smith. She's a very talented student and we're very lucky to her as a student." She waved to the class. "Sydney, why don't you tell the class about yourself?"

Sydney took a deep breath and thought a bit before she spoke. "Alright, well I'm from New York City. I love music. I'm in tenth grade. I'm fifteen, and I love people." she looked directly at Eli as she said that last part.

"Thank you, you may take your seat." Sydney walked down the aisle and sat in the seat next to Eli.

Eli looked behind him to see that Clare's face mirrored his. Complete shock. He turned back around and looked at Sydney, but she was already looking at him. She extended her hand and whispered, "I'm Sydney."

Eli took it hesitantly and shook. "Eli." he murmured.

"Well it seems as though Mr. Goldsworthy has taken it upon himself to meet Miss Smith." Miss Dawes said. "Why don't you help her caught up on some of the work that she's missed?"

Eli looked around himself for a moment and then pointed to himself. "Me?"

"Yes you."

"Ugh, I guess so." he stammered.

"Sounds good to me." Sydney said glancing at Eli and smiling. Clare rolled her eyes as she looked at the new girl. What was she trying to do?

The rest of class went by quickly, but was a tad bit uncomfortable for Eli. He could feel Clare's eyes burning into the back of his head.

**_REVIEW_**


	11. Flirtatious Acts

**_REVIEW_**

After the bell had rung, Eli walked as slowly as possible to the exit of the classroom. He was not looking forward to what Clare had to say to him. Clare was a bit insecure at times and had become jealous before. Every time this had happened, Eli would get an ear full about how so many girls have no self respect and it was a shame that they felt the need to throw themselves at every guy that walked past them.

Clare stood outside the classroom waiting for him to pick up his pace. Eli braced himself for her harsh words as he walked up to her.

"Can you believe that new girl, Eli?" Clare said. "She's here one day and she's already making googly eyes at you. I mean the nerve of some people-," she stopped talking abruptly, looking past Eli. He turned to see Sydney Smith standing right behind them.

"Hey, Eli, right?" she said.

"Yeah," Eli said. "And this is Clare, my g-girlfriend," he stumbled a bit over his words. This girl made him feel a tad nervous, although he wasn't sure why.

Sydney looked at Clare and smiled before turning back to Eli. "So, just let me know when you have time to help me with that homework."

Eli stared at her for a few seconds, forgetting what she was talking about. Clare looked at him and nudged his ribs, hard. "Oh, um, yeah, sure. That sounds good." he looked down at his feet.

"Well anyway, I'll give you my number so you call me when you think of those times," Sydney said with a smile. She reached for his arm and wrote on the palm of his hand ten digits that could only be her phone number. Eli's mouth was slightly open and he quickly glanced at Clare. Her face was rigid with anger and her eyes flared with jealousy.

Sydney continued to look at Eli before saying, "You're cute," then turning to Clare and saying, "You better hold on to this one, someone might try to steal him." she winked and then walked away confidently, leaving the atmosphere shocked and full of tension.

"What was that?" Clare said softly and yet forcefully.

Eli just stood there with his mouth open. Her touch had sent electricity down his spine. When she smiled at him, he got a feeling in his stomach that made him excited and nervous at the same time. He didn't understand what was going on. Feelings like this should only be caused by Clare. Clare, the girl who had been there for him through everything. No matter how bad things got between them, they had always found a way to repair their relationship and fix their problems. So why was he all of a sudden second guessing everything?

"Eli?" Clare snapped her fingers in front of Eli's face.

"Huh?" he said facing her.

"I would like it if you would pay attention to me and not that other girl,"she spat.

"What are you talking about, Clare? I am paying attention to you." But in all honesty, he was not. "Come on, we have to get to class." Eli reached for Clare's hand, but for the first time, she refused it. He looked at Clare's face. Her face was hard and angry, but her eyes were sad. Eli sighed, "Oh come on, Clare, don't be like that." The late bell rang and the hall was cleared of most students, Clare following suit. Eli grabbed Clare's arm and made her face him.

"Eli, we're going to be late," she said with frustration.

"I don't care," he stated. "Why are you being like this?" but he already knew the answer.

Clare looked at him as if he was stupid. "Maybe because this Sydney girl has been here one day and she's already all over you. But you don't seem to be having a problem with that." she crossed her arms and looked at him smugly.

"Babe, there's no one out there I'd rather be with than you. This is all in your head." he took Clare's hand and lifted it to his lips. "Now go, get to class."

Clare didn't look so reassured, but she let the argument rest and walked off down the hall. Eli did the same and walked off in the other direction. A feeling of guilt rose in the pit of his stomach. He had lied to Clare, the girl he loved. Eli wasn't stupid. He knew flirting when it was shown and that new girl was flirting. And he kind of liked it.

_No! Don't think like that! _Eli thought to himself. _Clare is your girlfriend and you love her. _But he couldn't deny the attraction he felt towards Sydney, it was too strong. But was it stronger than the attraction he felt towards Clare? That he was unsure of. Even after all this time, Eli still felt a certain intensity when he was with Clare. But there was still a lot of things that had died down. They were settled, they had a routine. They weren't as spontaneous as they had once been. There was no more lust in their relationship and that was something he craved.

_Stop it, Eli!_ He shouted to himself. What was he thinking? He knew this Sydney chick for less than 24 hours and she was already making him think like this? What was he doing?

"Oof!" Eli's lack of focus on where he was walking made him run into something hard. Books sprawled all over the floor. He looked down and, of course, saw Sydney Smith fallen on the ground.

"Oh, Eli! I'm so sorry, I can be such a klutz." she hastily picked up her books. Eli just stood there awkwardly, barely able to get his voice out of his throat.

Finally he extended a hand for her. "My fault," he managed. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Neither was I," she giggled. Her laugh rang out in his ear drums, causing his stomach to fly with nerves. Wait, nerves? He shouldn't be nervous.

"Well, I'd better get to class," he said trying to get away from the beautiful girl.

"Wait!" Sydney said. Eli halted in his tracks and turned to face her. "I hate to make you even more late to class, but I'm a little lost."

_Oh God. _"Where are you headed?" Eli asked a bit cautiously.

"The gym."

"Oh um, it's down that hallway then take a right and then a left. If you hit the chemistry lab, you've gone too far." he said.

Sydney smiled at that last part but said, "Well, I don't really take direction so great. Do you think you could walk with me? Just to make sure I get there?" her lips twisted upward slyly.

_What is this girl trying to do to me? _Eli thought. But he knew perfectly well what she was doing. Sydney was attracted to him. He could tell, she was making it very obvious. Eli stood there for a bit before answering, "Sure."

Sydney's face lit up completely as he said those words. "Great," she said. "Lead the way then."

Eli began to walk down the hallway, Sydney close behind him. She was so close he could smell the scent of her skin; apples and rain. It was enticing.

_Stop it, Eli! Stop it! _He shouted to himself.

"So," Sydney started, "You're with that Clare girl?"

Eli cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. We've been together for six months."

"Wow, that's a long time," she said looking at him.

"Yeah." he felt a bit odd talking about his relationship with Clare to this girl, but he was beginning to relax a little. "So what about you? Do you have any guys waiting for you back in New York?"

She scoffed and tipped her head back in amusement. "Not exactly," she said softly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Eli saw a hint of shame in her eyes as she said, "Maybe I'll tell you another time."

Another time? There will be another time? This caused Eli's stomach to flip flop. But it shouldn't and guilt flooded his system like poison. He started to become uncomfortable again as the thought of Clare passed through his mind.

Sydney noticed his discomfort. "I won't bite, you know," she said.

"Huh?" Eli said, taken aback.

"I know what you're thinking, and I get it. I'm not trying to get in your pants or anything, you can chill out."

"I was not thinking that." Eli lied defensively. They stopped outside the gym doors.

"Yes you were, but whatever. That just means you feel like your relationship with Clare is being threatened, but I guess that's good news for me." Sydney looked him up and down before heading in through the gym doors. "Oh, and don't forget," she said turning around slowly, "You can call me any time to work on those homework assignments." And with a wink of her eye and a slight sway of her hips, she disappeared within the depths of the gymnasium.

**_REVIEW_**


	12. Lies of the Heart

Eli found it hard to concentrate as he sat in his last period class. All he could do was think about Sydney. Her long red hair, her beautiful face, the way her lips curled when she smiled. _What are you doing to yourself?_ Eli thought. How could he be thinking this? He didn't even know this girl. This beautiful girl…_No! Stop it!_ He scolded himself. _You love Clare, she is your girlfriend. _

The bell's shrill screech sounded throughout the school as Eli slowly gathered his things and left to go to his locker. As always, Clare was waiting for him, but she was a little less than cheerful.

"What's wrong?" Eli asked her as he opened his locker.

She gave him a look that read 'are you stupid?' "You know what's wrong."

He took a deep breath. "I told you, that girl is nothing to me. I don't even know her."

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that." Clare stated, not believing him.

Eli turned to her, took her hands, and looked her dead in the eye. "Sydney Smith is nothing to me." _Did I really just say that? _He thought. _Did I really just look Clare in the eye and lie to her?_ But the scary thing was, was that it was easy. The words escaped his lips with ease. Even more frightening, the more he tried to convince Clare that he wasn't attracted to Sydney, the less guilt he felt. What was happening to him?

Clare smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry, Eli. I don't know what came over me."

Eli just stood there and hugged her in silence, not sure as to what he should say. What was he doing? He knew, deep down, that he should tell Clare the truth. That when he saw Sydney Smith his heart went a flutter, his stomach flipped, and his mind went fuzzy. Just by the sight of her. Eli wasn't sure what kind of spell this girl had put him under, but it was strong.

Eli looked behind Clare to see Adam walking up to them.

"Hey, lovebirds," he says. "Got any plans tonight?"

They both shook their heads.

"Good, cause even if you did, you'd be breaking 'em. Drew is throwing a small party tonight and said I could invite you guys."

"How small is a small party?" Clare asked a bit hesitantly. Parties weren't really her scene.

Adam racked his brain a bit, searching for a way to word what he was thinking. "Small enough to fill my house," he said finally.

"That's not really all that small," Clare said.

"Yeah, your house is huge, dude," Eli said, although he didn't really mind this as much as Clare. He enjoyed parties, and big ones were always better.

"I know," Adam laughed. "So you guys are coming right?"

A smile broke across Eli's face. "Hell yeah, dude." They touched fists. Clare rolled her eyes, but reluctantly agreed to come.

"I don't want to go," she said after Adam had left.

"Aw, come on, Clare. It'll be fun! I promise."

"I don't believe you, but I'll come anyway."

"Good, it's not a party without my girl." Eli kissed her cheek and they set off to his car, Sydney Smith in the back of his mind all the way.

_SORRY IT'S A BIT SHORT._

_**REVIEW**_


	13. Deadly Attraction

Eli drove his car in silence as he and Clare made their way to Adam's house. Clare seemed to be in good spirit's with Eli again, but was still a bit cautious towards going to this party.

"I don't know about this, Eli," Clare said tentatively as they parked outside Adam's home. The couple could hear music coming from within the house even though they were still in the car. People were hanging out in the front lawn with cups in their hands. Someone was even running around shirtless screaming something in french. "This seems a bit too out of hand."

Eli looked at Clare. "A little fun on the wild side never hurt anyone," he said, getting out of the car.

"That is untrue," Clare said, hesitantly following suit.

"Lighten up, Clare. This is going to be fun."

She sighed loudly and the two of them walked up to the house and went inside. The interior of the home was much crazier than the outside. People were everywhere, talking to one another, dancing, drinking, there were even a few kids sliding down the banisters.

"This is fun?" Clare said, her eyebrows raised.

"Clare! Eli! It's about time you guys showed up!" Adam emerged from within the large mass of teenagers, a big smile on his face.

"Hey, man!" Eli said. "This looks like a killer party!"

"Emphasis on _killer_," Clare chimed in, looking around in disapproval. "Where are your parents?"

"Out of town for a few days," Adam said. "Drew though it would be fun to kick things off with a little get together."

"Again with the adjective of _little,_" Clare stated.

"You guys want something to drink?" Adam asked.

"I'm good," said Clare, wrinkling her nose as a boy wearing a bed sheet ran past them.

"I'll take something," Eli said, parched. Adam disappeared momentarily in the crowd to fetch Eli a drink and appeared again holding a plastic red cup.

Eli took it and drank from it gratefully. The liquid burned his throat as he swallowed. He choked back a cough as he said, "What is this?"

"I don't know," Adam said. "Something Drew got from some guy."

"Some guy?" Eli said skeptically.

"Yep."

"Uh huh." Eli took another swig of the alcohol. It went down easier and a warm sort of feeling entered his stomach.

"Come on, we're playing games downstairs." Adam led them through the house to a staircase. It was slightly more calm down in the basement than upstairs on the main floor. There was a large group of people sitting together in a circle off to one side.

"What game are we playing, my good man?" Eli asked taking another gulp of his drink.

"Seven Minutes in Heaven."

Clare's nostrils flared. "Oh no, no way are we playing this game," she said, angrily.

"Yeah, I don't know about this, Adam…"

"Don't be so lame, you guys. You don't have to do anything in the closet if you don't want to. It's all in good fun. Besides you might get each other."

Eli hesitated, but then grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper, wrote his name down, and placed his name in with the pile of other names. It was just a game after all, and he really didn't intend on doing anything if he got someone other than Clare. Clare looked at him, dumbfounded.

"Come on, Clare. It's just for fun," he said.

Defeated, Clare did the same and they sat in the circle with everyone else.

"Hi Eli," came a voice from somewhere across the circle. Eli and Clare both looked up and saw none other than Sydney Smith.

"You've got to be kidding me," Clare breathed.

Eli thought the same thing as Clare had said. This girl was everywhere!

"Hi Sydney," Eli waved weakly.

"Shall we continue?" Adam said, making his way towards the circle, holding the pile of names. He placed the paper in the center of the group and sat down. "Who wants to go first?" It was obvious that almost everyone wanted to be first, but no one volunteered. Eli sat quietly watching, sipping his drink.

"Alright, looks like I'll have to pick." Adam pretended to be thinking about who should be first and finally said, "How about you, Sydney?"

Every one in the circle all looked at her with wide eyes.

"Sure, why not?" She reached over into the center of the circle, her eyes closed, and felt around the pile of names. Everyone watched with bated breath. Clearly, almost every boy in the circle was silently praying that Sydney would pick their name. Eli, however, was trying to will her hand away from his slip of paper. He knew that Clare would freak out if she had chosen him and he didn't feel like fighting with her anymore.

Sydney finally extracted her hand from the pile and looked at the name. With a small smile, she looked directly into Eli's eyes and said, "Eli Goldsworthy."

There were groans all around the group, and a sharp intake of breath from Clare. Eli looked down at his girlfriend. Her eyes were hard and she was biting her bottom lip.

"Come on, Eli." Sydney was already standing, her hand held out for Eli to grab. Clare looked at him weakly, a sinking feeling creeping into her system.

With one last fleeting look at Clare, Eli took hold of her hand and got to his feet, stumbling a bit. Clare glared at the pair of them as they walked toward the closet on the far side of the room. Closing the door, Adam started the timer.

The closet was a bit dark, but he could still see Sydney in full detail. Her long flaming red hair, the pale skin of her face, her sparkling blue eyes, the way her red lips curved upward in a deadly smirk. She was beautiful.

"Are you just going to stand there, or what?" she said quietly.

Eli stood, open mouthed, trying to form words. "Uh, w-what do you m-m-mean?" he stuttered. The drink he had consumed was making his brain a little fuzzy and he felt a slightly wobbly.

"Looks like you had a little too much to drink," Sydney said, noticing the sway in his stand. "Or are you just light weight?"

"I don't r-really drink," Eli said.

"I can see that." Sydney walked a little closer to him. "You know, this is only a game. Anything we do in here can be kept quiet." She took another step towards him. "Nothing has to leave this room." She came closer still. "It's only a game, it means nothing."

She was too close now. Eli's head whirled with confusion. _It's only a game…_ he thought. Sydney was so close he could count her long dark eyelashes. The scent of apples emanated off from her. It was too much for him. He knew he wanted her, and he wanted her bad. All the thoughts of Clare waiting for him on the other side of the door vanished completely from his mind. All he saw now was Sydney.

She tilted her head upward and looked him in the eye. Eli began to tremble as she pressed herself even closer to his body. Slowly, Sydney moved her head up to him. Not able to stand it any more, Eli thrust his face to hers and their lips met in a clash of lipstick and alcohol.

He kissed her in a way Clare would never have allowed. The taste of her was incredible, it was as if he were kissing some sort of exotic fruit rather than an other worldly gorgeous girl. Eli felt Sydney smile through the kiss and slid her hands through his over shirt and around his waist. Eli placed his own hands on her hips, moving them as they continued their embrace of pure lust.

Eli's lips trailed down her throat and back up again. There was no passion, just lust and need. They both were wrapped up in the heat of each others' breath, wanting more than just this moment of seduction. Suddenly, Sydney let go of Eli and stepped away, both of them breathing heavily.

"You'd better clean yourself up. Time's probably almost up," she said, fixing her blouse and hair.

Eli sunk down against the side of the wall and watched as Sydney did the same across from him. They looked at one another, hunger in both of their eyes. Their breathing became regular again and it looked as if nothing had happened at all.

"Time's up you two!" they heard Adam call. Eli listened as his friend's footsteps came closer.

"I won't tell," Sydney whispered as the door opened.

Light splashed onto the pair in the closet to reveal the two on separate ends of the small space. There were loud voices booing at them as they walked out, wanting to see the attractive girl on the already taken boy.

Eli sat back down in the circle, feeling twenty pairs of eyes on him, including Clare's. He looked over and saw Clare looking at him with utmost suspicion. He just looked at her and smiled.

_**REVIEW**_


	14. Guilty Confessions

In the morning when the effects of the alcoholic drink wore off, Eli was able to think clearly. Well, not that clearly considering he had a pounding headache. But that morning, as he sat trying to calm his baby sister, he realized the seriousness of what he had done last night. Game or not, he had cheated on Clare.

Eli had not intended on doing anything with Sydney when they had entered the closet together. Really, he didn't. It was a strange notion he felt when he was in the closet with her. The mixture of the alcoholic drink, the scent of her skin, and the way she spoke had enticed him to act on impulse.

Eli held his sister tightly in his hand and walked down to the front door. The house smelled of stale tobacco and smoke. Certainly not a place for children. His eyes sweeping the room, he opened the front door and walked out of the house. He strapped Angie into her car seat and began to drive to Clare's house as he did every morning, but something was different this time.

As Clare sat in Eli's car as he dropped Angie off at daycare, he couldn't help but feel guilty. They were both silent as Eli drove his car to school. It was only until he had parked his car, turned off the ignition, and had sat for a few moments when Clare had finally spoken.

"Eli, tell me the truth, did anything happen last night?"

Eli fixed his features into what he hoped looked like innocence. "What do you mean?" he asked softly.

"You know what I'm talking about." She looked down at her knees and reworded her question, "Did anything happened between you and Sydney in that closet?"

Eli was quiet for a moment, debating in his mind. Should he tell her? Of course he should, but he didn't want to hurt her. He really did love her, and if he told the truth she would dump him for sure. But if he kept the truth from her, then that could only lead to more heartache. What if Sydney told her? Clare would be devastated if she found out from someone other than Eli. But he just couldn't bring himself to tell her.

"Nothing happened, Clare," he said plainly. "We sat on the floor for the whole seven minutes and did nothing." As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He had always been honest with Clare, why was this Sydney Smith girl changing that? How could she be changing that?

Clare didn't look very satisfied, but Eli could see her body relax a little bit. A pang of guilt hit his stomach. She believed him, and it was easy. Clare could be paranoid at times, but she would always believe that he would tell her the truth. But no matter how much he regretted his words, he couldn't tell her the truth. He couldn't watch her heart break before his very eyes.

"Okay," Clare said, "I believe you." And as if to make Eli feel even worse, she leaned over to his face and gently kissed his cheek. Her lips were warm and soft. Eli loved that feeling, but they didn't bring him the same feeling of joy he was used to. He felt only guilt and fear.

"Come on, let's go," Eli said, wanting to see something other than Clare's trusting eyes.

They stepped outside of Eli's car, and began to walk up the stairs to the school. Adam stood at Eli's locker, his eyes red with tiredness despite the huge grin on his face.

"Party was a success, my friends!" he exclaimed, grabbing Eli's hand and sliding his palm through it.

Eli's heart sunk a bit. He had hoped to talk about something other than the party.

"Good to hear, dude," Eli tried.

"I got a bit of a headache though."

Eli took notice of the pounding in his head that he had tried to ignore. "Yeah, me too," he agreed.

Clare looked at him and Adam with disapproving eyes, "And who's fault is that?" she said.

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Adam said. "No need to nag, we've learned our lesson." He looked at Eli and then shook his head and mouthed, "No we didn't."

Eli kind of forced a laugh. He still couldn't get the image of Sydney out of his head. He wasn't feeling very cheery and Adam noticed. Adam looked at him wonderingly, but didn't speak. The bell suddenly rang and Eli couldn't have been more grateful.

"I'll see you two later," Clare said, swiftly kissing Eli's cheek before walking away down the hall.

"See ya, dude," Eli said to Adam, starting to head in the opposite direction of Clare.

"Woah, woah. Hold up there," Adam said grabbing Eli's arm and making him face him. "What's with you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Eli lied.

"Dude, I think I can tell when something's up with you."

Eli looked at the floor, a bit angry with himself for not fooling Adam with his facade.

"That's what I thought. How'd you get past Clare without her asking questions?" he asked.

"I think she thought it was just a hangover," Eli admitted.

"But that's not what's wrong. Spill, now."

Eli wanted to tell his friend what happened with Sydney. He had to tell someone. The guilt was eating him alive and he just couldn't take it. But what would he think? Would he tell Clare? Would he tell Drew? Would he turn away from him and never speak to him again? Eli didn't know. But what he did know was that if he didn't tell someone soon, he would explode with anxiety.

"Alright, but you can't tell anyone," Eli said.

"I promise, I wont tell anyone."

"I'm serious, man. If you so much as breathe a word of this to anyone, I will hunt you down and kill you myself."

"Okay, okay, I promise! Tell me!" Adam said getting impatient.

Eli took a deep breath, "Okay, last night, at your party, I sort of hooked up with Sydney."

There was silence as Adam processed Eli's words. Finally he said, "You _what_?"

Suddenly, Eli found himself scrambling for words. "I didn't mean for it to happen, I swear! Everything was happening so fast, I couldn't think clearly! She was all over me, I couldn't help my self!"

"How could you do that to Clare?" Adam said, his mouth hanging open.

Eli leaned against the lockers and slid down to the floor, Adam following suit. "I don't know, man. I just," he took a breath, "I just didn't realize how much I sacrificed for Clare until I met Sydney. When I was with Sydney, there were no limits. It was amazing."

"So basically, you risked losing the girl you love because some hot chick let you grope her?"

Eli sighed. Adam was right. That was exactly what happened. "What am I gonna do, Adam?"

"Tell her the truth maybe?"

"I can't do that, it'll crush her."

"If you're so worried about hurting her, then you shouldn't have screwed her over."

**_REVIEW_**


	15. Failed Attempts

"So I heard about you and Sydney," Drew said to Eli. It was study hall and Eli decided to use his free period hiding from Clare, needing a break from lying to her, in the empty music room. Much to his dismay, however, his peace did not last very long as Drew Torres came in.

"What do you mean?" Eli said, panicking a bit. It had been a few weeks since the incident with Sydney. Adam still looked at Eli with disappointed eyes and Clare was still oblivious as Eli sulked around her. He kept telling her things were getting worse at home and that was the reason for his bad mood and this excuse seemed to work because she didn't suspect a thing. Sydney, however, still constantly flirted with him, batting her long luscious eyelashes whenever he was around her.

"That she got you for Seven Minutes in Heaven at that party and you did _nothing. _I mean it's been weeks since the party and I still can't get it through my mind. How could you just sit there in that dark closet and do nothing?"

Relief spread quickly through Eli. He was safe, Drew didn't know. Eli tried to play it cool, "Yeah, I guess I love Clare too much." He cleared his throat nervously.

Drew let out a long breath. "Well, let me just say, if it was me, I'd be doing a lot more than nothing," he smiled knowingly. "Even if I had a girl of my own."

"Really?" Eli stated, choking slightly.

"Come on, man, the girl is hot. You must be real whipped to be in a closet alone with that chick and not do anything."

"Yeah, I guess I am." Eli looked down at his shoes. His talk with Drew was only making him feel worse.

"I can't tell you how many times I've asked her out and have been rejected."

"Really?" Eli asked, but his time with genuine curiosity.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is. A lot of guys have asked her out, but she's turned them all down. I guess Brian is the only guy for her," he laughed.

Brian was a gay junior. Sydney had only been at Degrassi for a short time, but the two were already inseparable. She was with Brian every morning before class, they were together between periods, and they hung out every day after school.

"Maybe I should act a little fruity and then she'd say yes to a date, huh?" Drew said, nudging Eli in the ribs.

Eli forced a laugh. Why did Sydney ignore every other straight guy in the school besides him? Was she trying to ruin his relationship with Clare? If so, it was certainly working. Eli didn't know how much longer he could stand lying to Clare.

"Anyway, I guess I should get going, study hall is almost over and I want to get the pizza before it's all out," Drew stood up and walked over to the door leading to the hallway. "I still can't get over how you ignored the hottest girl in school when you could have gotten some." And with that, he walked out of the room shaking his head and laughing to himself slightly.

When the door closed, Eli threw his arms up over his head and let out an exasperated grown. What was he going to do? He's been lying to his girlfriend for weeks, lying about cheating on her with a girl he barely knew. It was only a matter of time before the truth exploded out of him.

Eli stood and walked out of the music room just as the bell signaling lunch sounded. The last thing he wanted to do was see Clare and Adam. Both of them together became a sort of torturous routine in Eli's day. With Adam shooting him guilty looks and Clare being as lovely and kind as ever, the whole ordeal just made him feel worse and worse.

He walked into the cafeteria cautiously, hoping to avoid the two people he loved more than anyone besides his family, for as long as possible. Unfortunately, his stealth didn't last long. Just as he was sneaking quietly yet quickly into the lunch line, he bumped into someone quite hard.

"Oh sorry," Eli muttered before looking to see who he had hit.

Sydney Smith peered up at him through her dark eyelashes and smiled at him, "No, that's alright. It was my fault."

Eli cursed internally. Of course he would run into her, the girl who drove his mind wild with lust and regret. Eli made some sort a inaudible noise and tried to change his course to a lunch table.

"Hey, wait a second!" Sydney called after him. Eli reluctantly turned to face the beautiful girl. "Miss Dawes is getting really impatient with me, I really need some help with those assignments," she batted her lashes as she always did when she spoke to him, what else could he do?

"Yeah, sure."

"Great! I'll call you later and we'll work out a time where you can come to my place."

Call him? Go to her house? Alone? This was a bit more than he could handle, but he had already said he would help her. He nodded his head sharply and then turned to walk to his table, no longer hungry.

Eli sat down at the table, quickly followed by Clare and the Adam.

"Hey guys," he said a bit hoarsely.

"Hi, hun," Clare said leaning over and kissing his cheek.

"I had a major math test today and my brain is fried. I'm so ready to be done with high school," Adam said, massaging his temples.

"You and me both dude."

"What are we all talking about?" Everyone looked up to see who was speaking, and for the second time Eli saw Sydney Smith looking at him, her eyes twinkling. "Can I sit down?"

Clare looked a bit crestfallen and Adam expression turned grim, but none the less, they nodded their heads to not be rude. Sydney's face lit up a bit.

"Thanks you guys. Poor Brian is sick, leaving me without a lunch table." She sat down at the lunch table holding only an apple. They all looked around themselves awkwardly.

"So Sydney," Adam started trying to loosen the tension that she seemed oblivious to, "Tell us about yourself."

Sydney straightened herself a bit, "Well, I love music, it's all I do. I play six different instruments-,"

"Wow, six?" Clare said becoming a little more interested.

"Yeah, I play the piano, guitar, violin, flute, drums, and the clarinet."

"Wow, how long have you been playing all of them?" Clare asked. _What is Clare doing?_ Eli thought. She was actually being genuine.

"I began learning them all when I was five years old, so that makes about ten years."

"Can you believe that, Eli? Ten years for six instruments."

"Oh yeah, that's something," Eli said trying to sound enthusiastic. This was getting weird. Clare was being friendly to the girl Eli had cheated with. The girl she had hated. This was too weird.

"Tell us a little more about yourself."

"I have an older brother, he graduated last year. I love to write, which is why I'm in the advanced writing class. I'm guess you can say I'm pretty smart, but that's whatever. And I'm a vegetarian." She took a bite of her apple then and made a face. "You know, most people say that they can't taste the difference between organic and regular, but I sure can. And this, my friends, is not organic. I must have read the label wrong. Does any one want this?" Sydney offered the apple to the group. No one took it. "How about you, Eli?" she said turning to him. "You like apples, don't you?"

Eli stammered for a bit before saying, "No thanks." His stomach flipped when she spoke to him. Eli wished she would just go away. Her presence was making it even more difficult to control his thoughts.

Sydney shrugged her shoulders and turned around in her seat, about to throw the apple in a nearby trash can when Drew Torres came over and snatched the fruit from her hand.

"I'll take that, pretty lady," he said taking the seat next to her. "Hey, bro," Drew nodded at his brother.

"Hi, Drew," everyone chorused.

Drew turned to Sydney then, "Hi, Sydney."

"Hello, Drew," she said kindly, flashing him a gorgeous smile that revealed a perfect set of brightly white teeth. Was this girl some sort of love goddess something? She seemed to have no flaws!

Drew smiled back at her. "So, Sydney, you wanna maybe hang out on Friday?"

Sydney thought for a bit, but for some reason, Eli seemed to think that she was only pretending to be thinking about this.

"You know what, Drew? I'm pretty sure that I already have plans for Friday, but thanks for the offer," she smiled again, touching his shoulder.

Drew looked a little disappointed, but he hid it well, "Oh, yeah, that's alright. I'll see you guys around then." He then got up and left the table.

"What are you doing on Friday?" Adam asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing actually. I just didn't want to go out with him. No offense to your brother or anything," she added.

"Don't be sorry," Adam said. "He is a bit of a neanderthal."

"I like my guys to be smart and creative," she then looked at Eli. "I'm not really into the whole jock scene."

"I used to like jocks," Clare said thoughtfully, no doubt remembering her relationship with K.C. "That ship has sailed though." She took Eli's hand from across the table.

Eli's first reaction to her touch was to jerk away, though he was not sure why. He shrugged off the instinct and allowed her hand to remain on his.

Sydney looked at the contact almost enviously. "Well I think I should go and get some work done in the library," she said a little shortly. With that she got up from the table and walked out of the cafeteria, her skirt flowing beautifully as she moved.

Eli almost wanted to call after her and tell her to come back, but there was a part of him that was glad she was gone. He felt very strange when Sydney was around. He couldn't explain the feeling, it was something like when he first met Clare only a little better.

**_REVIEW_**


	16. Outburts of Betrayl

**I'm sorry it took so long to post, but I had exams and then I was grounded for a bit, but it's all good now! =)**

Eli's relationship with Clare was only going from bad to worse. She was starting to notice that Eli was being a bit more depressed than usual. His excuse about his father could only go so far. It has been weeks and Eli was still stand-offish to his girlfriend and she was getting a bit suspicious.

"Eli," Clare said, "I know something's wrong so could you please stop treating me like I have leprosy?"

Okay, so Clare was a little more than suspicious. She knew something was up and she wanted to know what it was right then and there.

"Clare, I have no idea what you are talking about," Eli lied, putting on an innocent face.

"That's bull and you know it."

Eli didn't know what to say. There they were, in the middle of the hallway. She stared at him with a look of determination. He was cornered, there was no where to run.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Trying to grasp at something to say, a girl with red hair wearing a low cut black tank top walked up to them.

"Hey Eli, Clare," she nodded to Clare and batted her eyelashes at Eli. Clare just glared at Sydney and Eli stumbled over his hello. "I was just wondering if you could help me with those assignments after school today."

Eli didn't speak for a few moments, shifting gazes from Clare's furious face to Sydney's flirtatious one. Finally he was able to sputter a barley audible, "Sure."

"Cool, I'll meet you after school then." She tossed her long hair to side and walked away.

Immediately, Clare rounded on him.

"Is that why you're being so weird? Because of Sydney?"

"What? No!" Eli stammered. He was starting to panic. What was he going to say to her?

"Elijah Goldsworthy, don't you dare lie to me." She looked at him with daggers in her eyes.

Eli racked his brains. What should he say? There was nothing really to say that she would believe. He decided on the truth, or else part of the truth.

"I will admit, Clare, I do find Sydney a bit attractive," he began to say.

Clare threw her arms up in the air. "I knew it," she declared before he could finish. "I freaking knew it! You are such a typical guy! You know, I think all girls should just wear booty shorts to school with their boobs hanging out all day just so I can get more attention from the male population! Does that sound appealing, Eli? Would you like that?"

"Is that a trick question?" Eli kidded, trying to lighten the mood. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew it was a mistake. He could almost see the steam coming from her ears.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" she spat.

"Yeah, it was." He was beginning to get a little angry himself. Eli thought that she was overreacting quite a bit for him just saying he thought she was attractive. He couldn't even begin to imagine the scene she would cause if he told her the whole truth.

"Well it wasn't very funny!" she shouted. People were beginning to look in their direction from all the noise Clare was making.

"Look, babe-," he started.

"Don't you 'babe' me! This isn't some casual conversation we're having over dinner!"

"Clare, calm down!"

She took a deep breath. "I can't deal with you right now, Eli. I have to go to class." And without a goodbye, she walked away and left him standing there alone.

What was going on? Why was Eli angry with her? He knew that he had no right, that she was the one who was supposed to upset while he whimpered for forgiveness. But instead they were both heaving with anger, neither one wanting to apologize for what was happening.

"That was interesting," Eli heard Adam say from behind him.

"So you heard?"

"Dude, I heard from the other end of the hallway. That girl is pissed."

"You're telling me," Eli said, rubbing the back of his head.

"So you told her about Sydney?"

Eli hesitated. "Well, not exactly..."

"Oh, God, what'd you tell her?" Adam asked.

"Well, I only told her that I found Sydney slightly attractive." Eli looked down at his shoes feeling slightly ashamed.

Ada's eyes rounded. "Slightly attractive? You almost got to third base with the girl and you told your girlfriend that you think she is only 'slightly attractive'?"

"Shh! Keep it down!" Eli said hushing his friend. "I was planning on telling her more, I really was-,"

"But you weren't going to tell her all of it?" Adam interrupted.

"You heard her reaction to what I had already said. There was no way I could tell her the rest." They stood there for a bit, Eli think hard. He didn't want to lose Clare, but he also wanted to tell her the truth. Not knowing what to do was becoming a new habit.

Adam then finally spoke,"The longer you wait, the worse it's going to be."

_**REVIEW**_


	17. The Breakup

The school day definitely did not go very well. Following the events of the morning argument between Eli and Clare, things only went downhill. Every time Eli passed Clare in the hallway she glared so violently that he could feel the gaze burning a hole through his skull.

He, himself, was even getting a bit irritated. Clare wouldn't even hear what he had to say. Though what he had to say probably would do no good with their relationship, but even still, he had a right to plead his case. But then again, if he were Clare, he wouldn't want hear what he had to say either. Why was he angry with Clare? He was the one who had done wrong, he was the one who had cheated. But he was angry, none the less.

Walking into English class that day Eli knew it wouldn't be fun. He sat down in his usual seat and waited as the rest of the class filed in. Silently, he hoped and prayed that someone would sit in Clare's usual spot. But of course, no one was. And then, Eli saw out of the corner of his eye the last person he wanted to see. Sydney.

"Hi, Eli," she said a bit tentatively.

Eli just grunted, not daring to even look at her.

Sydney looked awkwardly around. "I heard about you and Clare and that fight. I'm really sorry."

Eli almost snorted, "You're sorry?" Was she serious? She was part of the reason he was in this mess in the first place.

Sydney looked down at her dark Chuck Taylor shoes, her red hair falling gracefully over her face. She could tell he was angry with her. And then, Eli felt a strange pang of guilt. Really, what had she done wrong? The worst she did was flirt with him. He was the one who followed through with the temptation.

Eli let out a breath, "I'm sorry, Sydney. I'm just angry."

"That's understandable," she said lightening up a bit. "Will I still see you after school today? You know, to help me with my assignments." She batted her eyes in that flirtatious way she did.

What could he say? He had already said he would help her. "Yeah, just meet me in the parking lot."

Sydney beamed and walked to an empty seat across the room just as Clare walked in. With only one seat left, Clare had no choice but to sit in the seat in front of Eli. But this time, neither of the two were very happy about this.

As Clare sat down, completely ignoring him, Eli had forgotten all about the talk he just had with Sydney. All that mattered right now was Clare. Even though he was still a bit mad, he knew that she would never forgive him if he just gave her crap.

"Clare, please talk to me," Eli pleaded.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak to lying backstabbers," Clare retorted, her back to him.

"Come on, Clare, all I said was that I thought Sydney was cute," he said his irritation rising.

She spun around in her seat. "Do you think I'm stupid Eli? I know something's going on between you two."

Eli's heart sunk quickly. "What?"

"I'm not an idiot. I can see the way you look at her. It's obvious, so stop lying to me." Clare took a deep breath. "What did you do with Sydney?" She said the last sentence slowly. In that moment Eli knew that she had known all along, she was just didn't want to believe it.

Eli took a deep breath himself. This was it, there was no more running. He had to tell her the truth. "We crossed a few bases, but I did not sleep with her I swear."

A look crossed Clare's face, a look that included despair, disappointment, and confirmation. It was the hardest thing Eli had ever had to witness. He had to watch her heart break right in front of his eyes.

"We're done, Eli. It's over," she said quietly. And with that, she turned to face the board and he knew that there was nothing he could do. He knew he had just ruined the best thing that has ever happened to him and he had done it so easily.

Eli didn't speak to her, there was nothing to say except, "I'm sorry, Clare."

She didn't turn around, she just continued to stare at the board. He felt stomach drop as she continued to ignore him. Eli loved this girl and she loved him. He took that for granted and now he was paying for it. He was angry with himself for breaking her trust, he was angry with Clare for not forgiving him, but most of all he was sad that he had just lost the girl he loved. He lost someone who loved him for him, someone who shared countless memories and good times. There would be no more of that for them.

Miss Dawes began to lecture the class about some book they were supposed to have read, but he wasn't listening. He couldn't. Lifting his head the slightest bit, he could see Sydney sitting on the other side of the room. She was beautiful, but everyone knew that the devil wasn't ugly.

**_REVIEW_**


	18. Point of No Return?

**This chapter contains mature content. Reader discretion is advised.**

**;)**

Eli paced outside in the parking lot at the end of the day, next to his car. Sydney was coming soon and his nerves were all over the place. His relationship with Clare had been on a downward spiral and just landed with an explosion. But he did feel a lot better that Clare knew about him and Sydney. He wasn't lying any more.

His emotions were confusing even him at this point. For some reason he was furious with Clare. Or was he just angry that they were no longer together? Not only was he fuming, he was nervous at the idea of being alone with Sydney at her home. What would happen? He wasn't sure. Not even he knew if he would allow Sydney to take advantage of him now being single, not that it didn't matter to her before. So many thoughts seemed to be racing through Eli's mind, but they all stopped when he saw Sydney walking down the front stairs of the school and towards him.

"Hey Eli," she flashed her perfectly straight, dazzling teeth at him as Eli's stomach did somersaults. Why did she have to be so gorgeous?

"Hi Sydney."

She walked around to the passenger side of his car and slid inside as Eli followed suit. "So are you curious to see what the inside of my house looks like?" she asked with a small smile.

"A little bit," he said truthfully. But he didn't say how nervous he was feeling about being alone in her house with her.

"Only a little curious?" she turned to face him, narrowing her eyes and something told Eli that she wasn't just talking about her house.

He looked over at her and didn't say anything.

"Well aren't you quiet," Sydney said after a few minutes of silence besides her giving him directions.

"Not sure what to say," he said.

"Are you still upset about Clare?"

He really didn't want to talk about Clare with the girl he had cheated with, but for some reason he felt as if he could talk to her. "Of course I'm upset about Clare," Eli said. "She's my girlfriend-"

"_Was_ your girlfriend," Sydney corrected.

"Yeah, _was._ But that doesn't mean I still don't love her. We only broke up three hours ago."

"Eli, she's just one of many girls that you're going to be with. It's in the past now and the only thing you can do is to heal and move on."

Eli thought that she was only saying this so he would hook up with her again, but she sounded sincere. And maybe she was only saying this for her own benefit, but at that moment Eli felt the affection and attention he's been craving from Clare ever since Sydney had arrived at Degrassi.

"You know, the first step in the healing process is talking," Sydney continued. "Why did you love her?"

"What's not to love about her? She's smart, pretty, kind, funny, and she calls me out on my crap," he laughed a little. "Clare is never afraid to speak her mind."

Sydney processed this for a little before saying, "Okay, now what did you not like about her?"

Eli paused slightly and hesitated.

Sydney laughed a bit and said, "What? Was the sex bad?"

This made Eli hesitate even more, "We never exactly had sex."

Sydney looked dumbstruck. "What? Never?" She looked back at the road and composed herself. "I never took you for that kind of guy. You seemed pretty keen to jump on it when we were in the closet."

Eli's stomach dropped. Sydney and him had never really talked about what happened between them. Sydney examined his expression.

"So why didn't you guys ever...?"

Eli looked briefly at Sydney before returning his gaze to the road. "Clare believes in abstinence. She doesn't believe in sex before marriage."

"Oh, well that's no fun," Sydney said. "No sex for six months? No wonder you were ready to jump right out of your pants at that party."

There was a bit of truth to what Sydney had said, but it wasn't the fact that Eli hadn't had sex for six months, it was the fact that he was so close to it for six months and couldn't have it. Of course he loved Clare and this sacrifice was well worth being with her, but there a very small piece of him that found it ridiculous that Clare wouldn't do anything but kiss him. Maybe Clare was right, maybe he was just a typical guy.

"So I take it you didn't like that part of Clare?" Sydney guessed.

"It was definitely not my favorite part," Eli admitted. "But being with her was worth it. She had beliefs and I respect that."

"Word on the street is that you have your own beliefs."

"What, that I'm Atheist?"

"Yeah, how does an Atheist and a bible thumping Christian get together?"

"Well, religion shouldn't be that huge of a deal in a relationship, especially in a high school relationship. Although it did cause a few bumps. It felt as if she was always trying to push her religion on me. She would always want me to go to church with her or talk about God with her and of course there was the 'above the waist' rule."

"What on earth is the 'above the waist' rule?" Sydney giggled.

"I, uh, I wasn't allowed to touch her below the waist."

Sydney laughed out loud and covered her face with her hands. Eli looked at her and began to laugh too. It sounded very odd to say that out loud and it was a bit funny now that he did say it.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have laughed," said Sydney throwing her hands back down and one of them, quite sneakily, landed on Eli's thigh. But he didn't object, in fact, it felt kind of nice. Clare never would have allowed herself to touch Eli in such an innocent way. Sydney's hand was warm and lite and caused butterflies to erupt in his stomach.

"It's okay, it is a bit funny," Eli said to Sydney. She looked at him with her wide gray eyes and he looked back at her, "So what about you? What do you believe in?"

"I'm Agnostic," she stated. "I'm not sure what's out there, but there's got to be something. I don't know if there's a God, a spirit, a magic ghost, or nothing at all. You just, never know."

"That's fair. Oh uh, which house is yours?" he asked quickly indicating the long line of houses on the street.

She was silent for a moment, searching for her building and then pointing said, "There, that's the one."

Eli looked in the direction of her finger and saw an average sized brick house with a an average sized lawn. It was different from what he was expecting, as if a girl as beautiful as she would live in an extravagant home with a large garden and picket fence. It was instead, remarkably normal.

He parallel parked on the road outside of the house and turned off his car. They were both quiet for a moment and Eli was very much aware that Sydney's hand was still touching his leg.

"Shall we go in, then?" she said a bit exasperatedly.

"Oh, yeah."  
They both stepped out of the car and up the walkway to the front door of the house. Suddenly, as Sydney pulled out a shiny gold key and opened the door, his nerves were swept away. He was no longer with Clare and he knew that she wasn't going to forgive him, so what was the point of waiting? Sydney was here and she was being kind to him.

Once they were inside the house and comfortably sitting on the couch, Eli pulled out his notebook from his bag. "So, what type of assignments is Miss Dawes asking you to do?"

"Uh, well, I have to write some sort of personal letter or something?" she said taking out her own notebook now.

Eli remembered having to do that assignment. He remembered helping Clare and persuading her to write about her parents. It was so long ago and he felt that so much had changed since that time. But not only had their relationship changed they, themselves, had changed as well. Eli realized how different the two really were. And though he still loved her, he thought that maybe Sydney was right, maybe he should just move on. But was he ready to? They had only broken up that very day. It hadn't even been twenty four hours, but Eli was feeling so vulnerable at that moment that not much mattered. He was shattered and Sydney seemed to be willing to pick up the pieces.

"Um, Eli?" Sydney said waving her hand in front of his face. "Hello?"

"Huh?" Eli said quickly snapping out of his trance. "Oh, right, uh sorry, just thinking."

"About Clare?" Sydney said in a low voice.

Eli was silent.

"Eli, I know how much you're hurting right now. She meant a lot to you and I understand that. So maybe you should go." Sydney said her voice still quiet.

"No," Eli said quickly, "I want to stay here." And he did want to stay there, right there with Sydney in her home.

"I really like you, Eli."

"I know."

Again, they relapsed into silence. Sydney stared at him with emotion in her eyes.

"Sydney …" Eli started, but he never finished for Sydney leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, gently. As she pulled away, Sydney looked at Eli as though for confirmation to continue. Although there was no need. Eli grabbed onto her waist and kissed her back, but not so gentle. She tasted just as she did the night of Adam's party, but this time Eli did feel any guilt. He and Clare had broken up, they were no longer together. Clare was disgusted with Eli and she didn't want anything to do with him, so why hate himself? He was doing just what she wanted; he was trying to move on.

Sydney suddenly stopped kissing him. "Eli," she breathed, "do you want to go somewhere a bit more comfortable?"

Eli knew what she was indicating, but did he care? _Not really, _Eli thought. In the heat of the moment, Eli went against his better judgment. Sydney stood up and took both his hands in her's and took him into another room. The walls were a deep purple and there were many posters featuring bands such as Led Zeppelin and Van Halen, but Eli wasn't really paying attention to that. As soon as Sydney had opened the door Eli had reattached himself to Sydney's lips and was taking off his jacket.

Sydney threw Eli down on the soft dark quilt on her bed and straddled him. Clare never would have allowed things to go this far if he were with her. Eli ran his hands over Sydney's torso and found the bottom of her shirt. Breaking the kiss briefly, he lifted the tank top over her head, revealing a black lacy bra that was pushing her breasts together firmly. Sydney leaned down on top of Eli and kissed him again and took off his shirt.

Eli flipped over so now he was on top of Sydney. He trailed his lips down her face and neck, and continued down to the spot between her breasts and onto her stomach until he reached the button of her dark red skinny jeans and undid them, sliding them off her body. He moved his hands down her waist and memorized the feel and shape of her smooth, soft thighs.

"It's your turn, Mr. Goldsworthy," said Sydney huskily, toying with Eli's belt.

"As you wish, Miss Smith," Eli retorted, removing his belt and tossing it to the side. She tugged on his own dark skinny jeans threw those off the bed as well. They were so close now, on top of my another on Sydney's bed half undressed.

Eli moved his hands back up Sydney's body and around to her back, unhooking her bra and removing that as well. He then trailed his hands over her bare breasts, down her smooth flat stomach, and fingered the lace of her thong, before slipping those off and onto the floor as she did the same for him with his boxers. Then they were two bodies fused into one and Eli was in ecstasy. It was the most wonderful feeling either of them had ever experienced. Neither of the two had been with a partner that was more satisfying than each other. Eli's mind was completely blank of all thoughts regarding Clare. The only thing that was on his mind at this moment was Sydney.

It was over much quicker than either of them had wanted. They lay there in her bed with Sydney's naked body pressed against Eli's, both breathing heavily. Sydney's head was resting on Eli's chest as her hand massaged it.

"Wow," she whispered.

Eli smiled, "Yeah, wow." He smoothed her hair with his long fingers and breathed in the scent of her skin.

Sydney let out a deep breath. "They definitely don't make them like this at my old school," she giggled, her hand going lower to indicate what she was talking about.

Eli chuckled as well, his own hand feeling her bare back. "When are your parents coming home?" he asked.

"Oh, shit. I completely forgot about them." She climbed out of her bed and stretched. "We should probably get dressed, and you should probably go."

Eli got out of bed too and wrapped his arms around her waist, making their bodies touch. "But we're having such a good time," Eli pouted.

"Unless you want to be skinned alive by my father, I suggest you go. He should be here in about twenty minutes."

Eli looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Don't be pouty," she said with a smile.

"We still have a little bit of time." Eli leaned down and kissed Sydney, lacing both his hands in her's.

Sydney broke away from him after a few seconds and said, "Seriously, we have to get dressed and you need to leave."

"Fine."

They both got dressed in silence, watching each other with lust in their eyes.

"Come on," Sydney said taking Eli's hand and leading him over to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow at school." She reached up and kissed Eli forcefully on the lips before opening the door and bidding him goodbye.

Eli walked out of the house and looked at her as he got into his car. It was the most amazing day he had had in months. Clare hadn't even crossed his mind the whole ride to his house.

**_REVIEW_**


	19. Revelation

**So there has been some questions from people wondering if Clare and Eli will get back together and all I have to say say is you're just going to have to read to find out ;)**

"And then you just dumped him?" Adam said to Clare the next day at school. Clare had just finished feverishly telling Adam about the events that had happened the previous day between her and Eli.

"Well what was I supposed to do? He cheated on me Adam!" she spat at him.

"I know he did," Adam said, "and that was wrong. But don't you think you should talk to him about it first?"

"No!" Clare yelled so loudly a few passerby's looked at the pair. Lowering her voice, Clare continued, "I don't care what he has to say, no matter what it is, it will make no difference. He cheated on me with some skank from the city!"

Adam let out a sigh and then said hurriedly, "Uh, maybe you should go to class Clare," for Eli Goldsworthy was walking towards the two with his usual lopsided smirk plastered to his face.

"Why-?" Clare then turned and saw the reason for Adam's sudden discomfort. "Oh, I see," she said, an odd sort of grimace on her face.

"Adam," Eli nodded, "Clare," he said in a lower voice.

"I would prefer if you don't talk to me, I like it when my ears don't bleed," Clare shot rudely at Eli.

Eli was silent for a moment, staring at Clare blankly. Her words pierced through him sharply, but he kept his composure not wanting to let her words affect him. "I apologize Clare, but if you don't want to hear me speak then I suggest you leave." Eli smiled at her venomously. She just stood there open mouthed. Apparently she had not expected this kind of treatment from him. Slightly in shock Clare just looked at Adam and then stomped away.

"Wow, that was cold," Adam said watching Clare walk away.

"You know what, I don't care. If she wants to put me through hell for telling her the truth, I don't care. But I'm not going to let it get to me," Eli stated firmly.

Adam just sighed and said, "As long as you know what you're doing."

"Of course I know what I'm doing," Eli said. "And dude, let me tell you I'm already having a good time."

"What are you talking about?" Adam asked curiously.

"Let's just say me and Sydney had a little fun yesterday while working on her homework."

"You guys did it yesterday?" Adam looked perplexed, but whether he was happy or disappointed was indistinguishable for he was just in plain shock. "You do realize that you and Clare only broke up hours before you and Sydney did the deed, right?"

"I am aware."

"Dude," was all Adam said.

"What? Aren't you happy that I'm not upset about this whole thing?"

"I just thought you still loved her is all."

"I do, but I need to move on."

And he did still love Clare. There was probably a part of him that would always love Clare, but what he needed was to forget her. At least for now. Until he met Sydney he hadn't realized how trapped he was in their relationship. He hadn't realized how much he needed to breathe and experience life beyond Clare and meeting Sydney was like a breath of fresh air. Something new. After all he was still a teenager and this was his time to meet people and experiment with different kinds of love.

"Alright, man," Adam replied. He looked down at his shoes.

"What?" Eli said.

"It's just, I thought that you would be handling your break up with Clare a little harder than this."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she has been there for you through everything. She let you stay at her house when things were tough at home, she helped babysit Angie, she -,"

"Yeah, I know Adam. And I'm really going to miss her, and I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but right now I just need some time for myself."

"Hi boys," came the voice of Sydney from behind. She skipped right up to the two of them with a dazzling smile on her beautiful face. Adam looked down at his feet again.

"Hey, Sydney," Eli replied looking down at her and putting his arm around her shoulders.

"That's what you call time for yourself?" Adam said in a low voice. Eli ignored him.

"Okay, well I have to go," Adam said.

"See ya dude," Eli nodded. Adam seemed a bit irritated with Eli, but Adam just didn't understand what he was going through. Eli had the right to have some fun and he had found fun in Sydney.

"So I had a wonderful time yesterday," Sydney said once Adam was gone.

"As did I," Eli said wrapping his arms around her waist.

"But we never did get to actually work on my assignments."

"You know, I was so distracted I completely forgot about it," he smiled.

"Well who said distractions were a bad thing?" Sydney tilted her head back and Eli leaned down and kissed her gently on lips not caring who saw.

**_REVIEW_**


	20. Love and Hatred

**I know that it's been far too long since I've posted, but my laptop broke and it's been in the shop for ages. But I can finally post again! I've been waiting to post this chapter for quick some time now ;) I hope you enjoy.**

Rumors spread like wild fire that day at Degrassi. There were stories about how Eli broke up with Clare because she wouldn't "put out." Tales that Sydney and Clare had a cat fight and Eli had to choose between the two. But the one that hurt the most was the truth. Eli didn't seem to care what he was doing, but as Clare turned and saw Eli place his lips upon Sydney's in the hallway, hot tears welled in her eyes and she bolted for the nearest bathroom. How could he do this to her? She had given him everything, she had opened her heart to him and all she got in return was betrayal.

She sat there in an empty bathroom stall crying as hard as she'd ever cried before blaming herself for everything that had been done until she heard someone open the door to the girl's bathroom.

"Clare?"

It was Ali.

Clare pondered briefly whether she should answer or simply stay quiet, but she didn't have time to decide for Ali had spoken again.

"Clare I know you're in here. I saw you run in."

Feeling that she had no other choice Clare stood up and opened the stall door. She only had looked at her best friend for merely a few moments before she ran over to her and collapsed in Ali's arms, sobbing.

"Oh, Clare," Ali said.

"I should've said something sooner. I knew there was something going on between them, I just didn't want it to be true. This is all my fault."

"No, no it's not. Eli did this not you," Ali said softly.

"But maybe if I just wasn't so strict with him he wouldn't have wanted to run off in the first place. Or maybe I should've given him more freedom," Clare sobbed.

"This isn't your fault Clare. You did nothing wrong. Eli made the mistake."

They stood there in silence hugging for a few minutes before Clare spoke again.

"Should I give him a second chance?"

Ali let go of her friend and looked her in the eye. "Clare, whatever you do, do not give Eli another shot with you," she emphasized her words. "If you do, he's just going to break your heart again. You saw him, he's already over your break up and you two have only broken up yesterday. Believe me Clare, Eli doesn't deserve another chance. You're too good for him."

"I should never have been with him in the first place."

Ali hesitated and paused for a moment, thinking about her answer. "I don't believe that."

"What do you mean?" Clare asked, confused.

"Without Eli you never would have had the experience of finding love. And you know what they say, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

"I'm not sure that's true."

"Well, you're sure as hell going to find out how strong you are after all of this blows over. And just remember that Sydney Smith is a skanky witch," she laughed and then her expression softened. "I know that you'll find someone better Clare."

They stood for a minute longer until the bell rang. "Come on, Clare. Let's go face the world."

Together the two walked out of the comfort and privacy of the lavatory, arms linked, and walked to their first class, Algebra.

"Everyone knows," Clare whispered to Ali as they took their seats. "They're all staring at me."

"Just ignore them," Ali whispered back as the teacher began to speak.

Clare sat there in silence and tried to pay attention to the teacher, but all she could think of was Eli and Sydney. She should have confronted Eli as soon as that party was over. She knew that they had done something in that closet, she just couldn't bare to admit it, she couldn't bare to make it real. In her mind she had created a scene that Eli was still in love with her and that Sydney was but a mere figure in their lives. But in her heart she knew that is was a lie.

Why did Sydney have to choose Eli anyway? If it wasn't for her, she and Eli would still be together. If it wasn't for Sydney she wouldn't have had her heart broken. But Sydney didn't seem to care. She was heartless. She was a heartless witch who couldn't keep her hands to herself. Clare wondered if she was like this at her old school.

_Maybe that's why she moved,_ Clare thought maliciously._ Maybe she messed around with too many guys and everyone hated her at her old school. _Clare smiled bitterly to herself. _I hate her,_ she thought. The words in her head shocked her somewhat. She had never hated anyone before, had never known that someone could dislike a person so much. With every fiber of her being she loathed Sydney Smith. Her body seethed with rage with the thought of her face, her name, her very being.

Clare had been so engrossed in her thoughts that she jumped when the bell rung.

"You coming, Clare?" Ali said at the door.

"Uh, yeah, you just go on without me. I'll catch up with you later."

Ali looked at her suspiciously, but after a few moments she left.

Clare sat in the empty classroom for bit before gathering up her books and walking from the room and into the hallway. She walked for a bit before she almost collided with none other than Sydney Smith.

"Oh, hi Clare," she said cheerfully.

She says hi? After everything this girl had done, she says hi?

"Listen about me and Eli, I just want you to know that I don't want things to be weird between you and me, I mean I would really like to be friends."

_Friends?_ She wanted to be _friends?_ The smile on her face was so happy and bright it sickened Clare. All she wanted to do was wipe the smug look off her face.

"You want to be my friend?" Clare said slowly.

Sydney nodded her red haired head.

All of the emotions she had been feeling over the past few days were finally boiling over. The hatred, the guilt, the despair all seemed to be poring from her at this very moment.

"You blow into this town acting like _hot shit, _whore around with my boyfriend behind my back and you have the audacity to ask me to be my friend!" Clare shouted inches from Sydney's face. People around were beginning to stop and watch the scene, but Clare didn't care.

The smile faded from Sydney's face. The sweetness in her face was gone when she spoke, "I'm sorry that you were too much of a _nun_ for Eli, but it's clear he doesn't want to be with you anymore, he wants me."

Clare scoffed, "He doesn't want you! He gave in to you because you're a _slut."_

That comment seemed to do it. Sydney threw down her own books on the ground and took a step closer toward Clare. The hallway was as silent as the dead as Sydney whispered viciously, "He doesn't want you because you're a _prude virgin," _and she knocked the books out of Clare's hands.

The whole crowd made noise at this and continued to watch the girls.

With one single moment Clare stared into Sydney's piercing gray eyes with as much hatred she could force. Then in one swift motion Clare mustered all the strength she could and slapped Sydney hard across the face.

The crowd "Oh"'d and "Oo"'d again as the noise sounded throughout the halls. Sydney stared at Clare, somewhat shocked at her action and took Clare by the shoulders and slammed her into the lockers. A sharp pain reverberated throughout her back, but she did not let it show and pushed Sydney to the ground. But Sydney was tougher than she looked. She quickly got up and grabbed Clare by the back of the hair and punched her in the face. Clare felt her cheek suddenly swell and a new wave of hatred swept over her. Clare withdrew her own fist and hit Sydney square in the nose and saw to her delight a gush of warm red liquid trickling down from her nostril. The fight was escalating so quickly that the girls did not even notice the crowd shouting "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

The two girls were then just a mass of limbs that was ripping and scratching and pulling at whatever their hands could find, both of them screaming at each other. Suddenly a new pair of hands landed within the fight and Clare was pulled from Sydney still shouting.

"You're a slut!" Clare shouted. "You're a heartless whore!"

"Touch me again bitch! See what happens!" Sydney screamed back.

"Girls, that's enough!" shouted a voice. The people who had pulled the girls apart were Mr. Simpson and a teacher that Clare did not recognize. "What is going on here?"

"This psycho attacked me! I was just going to class!" Sydney yelled.

"That's a lie!" Clare shouted. "She's a lying slut!"

"Yeah and you're a psychotic virgin!"

Clare spit in her face.

Sydney struggled to break free from the grasp of her holder.

"Everyone get back to class!" Mr. Simpson shouted. No one moved. "Now! Or you'll all have detentions for the rest of the week!" The crowd then dispersed and there was silence once again in the hallway. Mr. Simpson and the other teacher let go of Sydney and Clare, but they seemed as if they were ready to jump on them again at a moment's notice if need be.

"My office, now!" Mr. Simpson shouted pointing down the hall to his door.

_**REVIEW**_


	21. The Aftermath

**Getting near the end!**

Clare had never been more frightened in her life. Never before had she sat in the principle's office for anything other than praise. Mr. Simpson would surely call her parents. Not even her imagination could dream up the look of disappointment that was sure to be on her mother's face. Clare could just imagine the words that would come out of her mouth, "You're turning out like Darcy."

What had she been thinking? Sydney wasn't worth all this. Clare looked up and saw her reflection in a nearby window. There were three long scratch marks on her cheek that had been leaking blood.

"Okay, Clare. Come on in," Mr. Simpson walked out of his office stood next to Clare.

"Yes, sir."

Slowly she stood, not wanting to do anything except sink into the floor and never be heard from again. Walking into Mr. Simpson's office and seeing Sydney Smith sitting there with a tissue pressed against her bleeding nose held nothing but guilt and a slight area of twisted satisfaction. It was the strangest feeling.

Clare sat down in the chair next to Sydney. Next to the girl who had taken her boyfriend right from under her nose. A new hatred suddenly flared within her and her nostrils flared.

"Now, why don't you two tell me what happened, calmly please," Mr. Simpson emphasized the word "calmly."

It was silent for a moment. Clare was afraid that if she opened her mouth she would start screaming obscenities at Sydney again. But she wasn't even given a chance, for Sydney spoke first.

"I wasn't doing anything wrong, Mr. Simpson, I was just trying to be her friend!"

"That's a lie and you know it!" Clare interceded.

Mr. Simpson turned to look at her, "Clare, don't interrupt. You'll get your chance," he paused. "Continue Sydney."

Sydney glared at Clare before speaking again, "As I was saying. I was just trying to get to class when I bumped into Clare. We had experienced a tad bit of drama recently so I thought it would be nice to apologize for my previous actions. I said that I wanted to be her friend," Sydney paused and gulped loudly as if trying to hold back tears. "And then, she just threw herself at me! I was just using self defense. And I would like to apologize for the way that I acted and the words that I said. It was very disrespectful and I wish that I had just avoided Clare. I didn't realize that she held so much anger," she finished boldly.

Clare couldn't believe her ears. These words coming from Sydney's mouth were ridiculous. She was manipulating the situation.

"Mr. Simpson," Clare started, "That is not what happen."

"Oh? Let's hear what you have to say Clare."

Clare looked at Sydney, hate in her eyes. She could have sworn that she saw Sydney wink at her in a way that said, "I got you, don't even try."

"Well, I was walking to my next class when I ran into Sydney in the hallway," Clare cleared her throat, her voice shook. Why was she so nervous? _Probably because you threw the first punch. You know you're guilty, _she thought. There was no hope for her. There was no point in fighting this. Clare was at fault. She started the fight. Clare took a deep breath and looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry, sir. It's my fault. I started the fight."

It was silent for a moment. Clare dared to take a glance at Sydney and saw that she had a small, slightly visible look of victory upon her face.

_She knew, _Clare thought. Sydney knew that she would give in. That there would be no possible way that Clare would be without guilt.

"Okay," Mr. Simpson started, breathing heavily, "Thank you Clare for your honesty, but of course you know I'm going to have to punish you."

Clare looked at the floor, "Yes sir."

"And you as well Sydney."

Sydney looked up and a look of absolute innocence overcame her face. "Oh of course Mr. Simpson."

"I'll notify your parents of your punishments and I think it will be best if you both go home early today."

They both nodded and left the office. What was Clare going to do? She was just suspended for the rest of the day, possibly more. There was no way she would be able to go home. She couldn't face her parents when they found out the awful truth. And maybe she was being a bit dramatic, but her parents excepted so much from her. She just couldn't bare to let them down.

There was a snigger from behind.

"Good one, Edwards," said Sydney. "You know, I actually thought you were going to stand up for yourself for a second there, but you had me fooled."

Clare turned around looked at her.

"What?" she said.

There was a pause before Syndey spoke. "When I first came to this school, I admired you. I heard a lot about how you were this strong independent woman who fought for what she believed in. But I guess that was a false rumor, cause so far you've just stepped aside and let me take everything from you." Sydney smirked and looked at Clare dead in the eye.

"Wait, you messed around with Eli to see if I would stand up for myself?" Clare asked.

"Honey please, don't flatter yourself. I messed around with Eli because he's my type of guy and I wanted him. I was just a little disappointed by the fight, or lack of fight I mean, in my process of getting him. I thought it would be a little more exciting."

Clare's mind did somersaults. Was she crazy?

"You were disappointed that I didn't fight for Eli?" Clare whispered.

"At least it would have made the chase a little more interesting. But I guess you don't love him like everyone says you do," Sydney narrowed her eyes. "Even today when you threw that punch at me. I'm not sure if you were fighting for Eli or if you were just pissed that I got what you didn't have the balls to hold onto."

Clare opened her mouth and quickly closed it, groping for words. She was at a loss of what to say. There was nothing that she could say. Sydney walked and passed by Clare, practically sniggering at the dumbstruck look etched across her face.

"Oh and one more thing," Sydney said turning to look at Clare, "Your boyfriend, or ex boyfriend I guess I should say, he's pretty damn good in bed."

And with a single wink and a whip of her hair, she left through the front doors.

**_REVIEW_**


	22. Revelations of the Heart

Eli sat alone at lunch that day, munching on his sandwich. Sydney was supposed to meet him there. Where was she? Neither she nor Clare had been in English either. It was odd, Eli had seen both girls earlier that day. Where had they gone?

"Hey Eli," came the voice of Adam Torres. He seemed hesitant and cautious. "Um, I have to talk to you."

"Oh hey, Adam, have you seen Sydney?" Eli asked.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about," Adam said sitting down across from Eli.

There was a nervous look about him and he was picking at his nails.

"Spit it out, dude," Eli said.

"I take it you haven't heard yet, huh?"

"Heard what?"

"Well, you see, there was a fight today..."

"A fight? No way, between who?" An entertained smile broke across his face.

Adam paused, "Sydney and Clare, dude."

The smile on Eli's face was wiped clean replaced by shock and disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Never been more serious in my life."

"What was the fight about?"

"I think you can figure that one out for yourself, my friend," Adam said.

There was a pause.

"They were fighting about me?"

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!"

"But why were they fighting about me? Could you give me a little more detail?"

Adam took a deep breath, "From what I heard, Sydney and Clare bumped into each other in the hallway and some things were said..."

"Keep going," Eli urged. This was crazy. Clare? Fighting? He could see Sydney get into a physical altercation, but not Clare.

"I guess Sydney said something that really set Clare off cause she punched Sydney right in the face."

Eli's mind was blown. "Clare threw the first punch?"

"I was as shocked you," Adam said hurriedly. Though he was at first reluctant and hesitant to tell Eli what had happened, he now seemed excited and exasperated. "Anyway, Sydney is a tough girl and she of course fought back. There was apparently blood and chunks of hair flying everywhere!"

"No way!"

"Yes way! And Sydney was screaming crap at Clare and Clare as screaming back, oh my God, I wish I had seen it for myself. In the end Mr. Simpson came and broke it up and they're both suspended for the rest of the day. From what it seems, Clare is in more trouble than Sydney."

"Why?"

"I don't know, that's just what I heard."

"Who told you about the fight?" Eli asked.

"Ali told me and Drew told Ali. He saw the fight and said it was great."

"Oh my God." Eli was in shock. Sydney and Clare? He knew that Clare highly disliked Sydney, he just did not think she would take it to such extremes.

"I have to talk to Clare," Eli said suddenly, getting up from the table.

"What?" Adam said getting up to.

"I have to talk to Clare and find out why she's doing this." Eli began to leave the cafeteria.

"Now? And what's Clare doing?"

"She just can't accept the fact that I might be happier with Sydney than I was with her. Now she's trying to ruin it."

"I really don't think that Clare planned fighting Sydney, Eli."

Eli huffed a loud breath. "Well, either way.'

"Either way, what?"

But Eli had already left. Why was Clare still punishing him? She had already broken his heart. Wasn't that punishment enough? He had found refuge in Sydney and now Clare was trying to take that away too. Why couldn't she just leave them alone?

Eli climbed in his car and started the engine. It had been a long time since he had driven to Clare's home. Even when they had been together he was never very welcome at her house. Her parents had obviously never approved of him.

He pulled up right in front of Clare's house and turned off the ignition. Eli had not really thought over what he was going to say when he saw Clare, but he didn't really care.

Climbing out of Morty and walking up to the doorstep, Eli realized how angry he was. Clare was ruining everything good in his life. She had once been the center of his heart, the sole joy in his life. Now she was making everything horrible and broken.

He pounded on the door and rang the bell feverishly.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Clare shouted. "Wh-? Eli? What are you doing here?"

She was a mess. Her hair was untidy and there were deep bloody scratch marks on her face. A large purple bruise was blossoming across her cheek and her shirt was slightly torn. But he did not care.

"What is wrong with you?" Eli demanded.

"I beg your pardon?" Clare scoffed.

"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"Excuse me? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, Clare. You're pissed cause I'm with Sydney now and I'm happy. I'm sorry I'm not killing myself over our break up."

A wave of hurt splashed across Clare's face.

"I didn't do anything," she spat. "Your little girlfriend was the one who came after me. I may have thrown the first punch, but she was the one instigating."

"You know what? I don't really care if she was the one instigating, the fact of the matter is, you can't stand to see me happy. You just hate the fact that I'm with Sydney and not you."

"Um, sorry, but I believe that I'm the one who broke up with you."

"You may have been the one who said the words, but I'm the one who did the action."

It was the fastest realization Eli had ever endured. He cheated on Clare because he no longer wished to be in that relationship. At first the thought of not being with Clare frightened him, but now he knew that was because Clare had been his rock for so long, he knew nothing else. But in his subconscious he knew that he needed to break free of her.

Clare said nothing, there were no words to express what she was feeling.

"I think we're done here, Eli. Please leave," she was livid. Eli couldn't really blame her, but he was livid too. But he was also relieved. He now knew the reason why he had cheated on Clare. And as he drove down the street he took a turn in the opposite direction and headed down to Sydney's house.

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	23. Truth Accepted

**Wow, I sincerely apologize for this being so late. I've had so much to do lately. And also, I'm sorry this one was so short =( I'll be sure to make the next one longer and sooner!**

Sydney sat at her home working on a few assignments for her English class. However she was finding it rather difficult to concentrate for all she could think about was the conflict between her and Clare.

The whole thing was very amusing to Sydney. Did Clare really think that she could win this battle over Eli's heart? Of course Sydney would win, and of course she already has. There was no doubt in Sydney's mind that once Eli heard about the fight he would be angry with Clare and come to Sydney's defense. And that's exactly what she wanted to happened.

There was all of a sudden the sound of a doorbell sounding throughout the house.

"Right on time," Sydney whispered.

She got up from her sofa and walked over to her door and opened it to find Eli standing before her.

"Hey, babe. What's going on?" Sydney said with an innocent look, already knowing the answer.

"I was just at Clare's house," Eli started walking into the home, "and I can't believe the nerve of her."

He was fuming. Sydney had never seen him angry and in her eyes it was kind of hot.

She directed him over to the couch and they sat down.

"Tell me what happened," she said. A sly smile was beginning to creep along her face.

He was silent for a moment, looking at her. His fingers trailed her lips, touching a cut spot that had resulted from the fight. "I can't believe she did this to you," Eli finally whispered. "I was stupid to think that Clare could move on from this relationship and just leave us alone."

"Well, in Clare's defense, I probably would have done the same thing," Sydney was shocked at her own words. Was she actually defending Clare? But her momentary lapse in judgment was soon over. So what about Clare? Her legacy with Eli was over it was Sydney's turn now.

"Yeah well, I guess I like you too much to care," Eli said smiling.

Sydney batted her eyelashes. He was so cute and so sweet. No wonder Clare got so worked up over their breakup. Eli was the perfect guy for anyone. But he was especially the perfect guy for her.

However, there was something that had been bothering Sydney for quite some time.

"Can I ask you something, Eli?" she asked absentmindedly playing with his fingers.

"Anything," he said.

"If you loved Clare as much as I've heard you did, then why was it so easy to pry you away from her? I mean, do you really like me that much? Or do you always go for girls like me when you get bored?"

The words came out a bit harsher than she had intended, but Sydney never knew how to filter her words. Not that she really minded. If she had something to say what was the point in sugar coating it?

Eli looked slightly taken aback, but quickly recovered, "No, I don't always go for 'girls like you'. And what do you mean by that anyway?"

"You know exactly what I mean by that, Eli. Or are you really that blind?"

There was a moment of silence. When Eli failed to replied Sydney continued, "Oh come on, Eli. Look at me!"

"What are you talking about?"

"You know what I mean. I waltz into Degrassi and I screw around with some guy I don't even know, who has a girlfriend. I know what I did. And I don't care that I did it," she paused. "What does that make me?"

"Listen to me Sydney," Eli started, "I was in love with Clare. I really was. But I just didn't realize that I was shielding myself from the rest of the world. My whole life was her. Yeah, she was good for me in the beginning, hell she was good for me through most of our relationship. But when you get down to it, we were just too different. We both wanted different things. If anything you helped me, Sydney. Me and Clare would have ended sooner or later, you just made me realize sooner was better than later. I'm ready to move on from her and I'm glad I met you."

Eli stopped talking and looked at Sydney. She didn't know what to say. His answer was exactly what she wanted to hear. She didn't speak, but instead leaned forward and pressed her lips against his. It seemed the only way to express her gratitude. It was the only way she knew how.

They sat on the couch for a bit longer, lost in each other's breath. The taste is Eli was irresistible. There was no way she could have ignored him, she could never have let Clare win him. He was too much to lose. Eli then began to slowly lift her shirt.

"Eli, we can't," Sydney said taking his hands. "My dad will be home soon."

He looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "Come on, we'll make it fast," he said kissing her neck.

Sydney sighed. _Ah, what the hell? _She thought. After all, there was no way she could say no to him.

"Okay, fine, but we have to hurry," she giggled.

_Clare sure has no idea what she's missing,_ Sydney thought.

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	24. The End

**This is the final chapter! **

**There will be a sequel!**

There were many thoughts running through Sydney's head as she walked down the hallway during school that morning. Things were beginning to calm down since the whole Clare fiasco, apart from the fact that she glared at Sydney and threw dirty looks at Eli every chance she could grab. Clare still had light pink scratch marks on her face from Sydney's nails.

Eli was better than ever to her. He occupied her to ever class and drove her home everyday after school. Her best friend, Brian, didn't really appreciate the way that their relationship came to be, but he respected Eli and was glad that Sydney was happy.

The hallway seemed silent and Sydney walked in a daze, passing students and teachers as if they were not even there. The air seemed stiff and thick. There was no way it could be true ….

"Hey, Syd," Brian said as she blindly approached her locker.

She merely nodded in apprehension.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Sydney was silent for a moment before she spoke, "Um, where's Eli?"

She turned her head slowly as if expecting to see him standing there already. There was a slight sense of confusion and an air of being dumbfounded about her.

"What's going on?" Brian asked taking a step closer to her, concerned. She was not being herself.

"I just," she paused, hesitating slightly, "I just need to talk to him, it's important," she finished.

"I don't know where he is, but what's wrong, Sydney?"

A strange look came upon her face. Brian was not sure if she wanted to tell him or not, but something was plainly wrong. She wasn't making eye contact with him and she kept looking over her shoulder or down at her feet. Her arms were crossed tightly across her chest and she looked slightly disheveled.

Her flaming red hair did not seem kept for it appeared uncombed and it was no longer straight, but wavy with a slight curl. She did not wear her usual unique style of assorted colored skinny jeans with a tank top or cropped band tee shirt, but instead modeled a very worn pair of black sweat pants and a loose cut off shirt with a bright tank top underneath. On her feet she did have her converse, but a pair of tattered flip flops.

"Sydney, you can talk to me," Brian said to her, growing more and more worried.

"I really need to talk to Eli first," Sydney said looking at Brian. "But I'll let you know."

There was something in the tone of her voice and the way she phrased her words that frightened Brian. What was she trying to say? What had happened to her? It was quite plain that whatever had occurred had shaken her. Sydney just stood there blankly not saying a word. Brian did not know what to do except wait with her.

Soon after Sydney ceased talking, Eli showed up in Brian's line of vision.

"Syd," Brian said pointing behind her.

She seemed to be thinking in slow motion. Her gray eyes followed Brian's finger and she slowly turned around to see Eli walking towards her.

"Hey," Eli said cheerfully. His bright eyes, however, darkened as he took in Sydney's appearance. "What's wrong?"

Immediately her eyes brimmed with tears and she took his hand, pulling him off towards a more private area.

"Eli," Sydney began, her voice breaking.

"What? What is it? What's wrong?" Eli grew frightful as he watched the salty tears flow silently down her face.

"I need to tell you something and please, please don't be mad," she said looking at him.

Eli took her face in his hands and pressed his lips on her forehead. "Just tell me."

Sydney pulled away and stared at him. "I'm pregnant."

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	25. ANNOUNCEMENT

**I just wanted everone to know, that my sequel is up!**

**I wasn't sure if you would be able to know if I posted the new story... **

**So please read and review the new story!**

**Love you guys! Thanks for reading!**


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